National Health Insurance Service Researchers Advance Knowledge in COVID-19 (Political Ideologies, Government Trust, and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in South Korea: A Cross-Sectional Survey): Coronavirus – COVID-19

2021 NOV 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx COVID-19 Daily -- A new study on coronavirus is now available. According to news reporting originating from Wonju, South Korea, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “This study aimed to assess the correlation between political ideologies, government trust, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among South Korea’s general population and 1000 respondents (aged 18 years and older) were included.”

Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from National Health Insurance Service: “We used multivariate logistic regression models to identify the factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. Respondents who self-identified as liberal or held ‘no political opinion’ had higher rates of vaccine hesitancy than conservative respondents. People’s trust in the government’s countermeasures was associated with vaccination. Respondents who had risk perceptions (affective and cognitive) of COVID-19 had lower rates of vaccine hesitancy. Perceptions that the vaccine was not safe and being aged 18-29, 30-39, or 40-49 were associated with a higher probability of vaccine hesitancy. This study found that even if vaccine safety and risk perceptions toward COVID-19 were adjusted, self-rated political ideologies and government trust was associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “More effort to communicate with those who are *liberal or ‘no political opinion’, younger, and have lower level of trust in the government are required to dissolve vaccine hesitancy. Further studies should analyze the mechanism of COVID-19 vaccine uptake for effective herd immunity.”

For more information on this research see: Political Ideologies, Government Trust, and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in South Korea: A Cross-Sectional Survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021,18(10655):10655. (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph). The publisher for International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is MDPI AG.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010655.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Hyun Kyung Park, Health Insurance Research Institute, National Health Insurance Service, Wonju 26464, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include Ji Hye Ham, Deok Hyun Jang, Jin Yong Lee, Won Mo Jang.

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