Relationship between double covid-19 vaccine uptake and trust in effectiveness and safety of vaccination in 23 european member states: an ecological study

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between double COVID-19 vaccine uptake and trust in effectiveness and safety of vaccination in general in 23 European Union (EU) countries. Ecological study. Data was retrieved from the Flash Eurobarometer 494 and Our World in Data. We estimated Pearson’s correlation coefficients and fitted multiple linear regression models. There is a negative linear correlation between the percentage of people doubly vaccinated and the percentage of low trust in vaccine effectiveness (r=-0.48, p-value=0.021), and the percentage of low trust in vaccine safety (r=-0.43, p-value=0.041). There is a negative adjusted relation between the percentage of low trust in vaccine safety and the percentage of people doubly vaccinated (aβ % low trust in vaccines safety :-0.25; 95% CI: -0.49,-0.01, p-value=0.045). An increase in health literacy of people living in certain countries in the EU may be needed to boost COVID-19 vaccine uptake.