Vaccine willingness and concerns in Australia: August 2020 to April 2021

Abstract

This paper reports data collected in April 2021 on Australian's vaccine willingness and concerns, with a total sample size of 3,286 adult Australians, comparing results from responses from the same individuals in January 2021 and August 2020. The paper shows that although vaccine willingness has remained stable since January 2021, there are still key population groups within Australia who remain hesitant about getting a vaccine. Groups that have higher rates of vaccine hesitancy include women, those who spoke a language other than English; those who live in relatively disadvantaged areas; and those who live outside a capital city. We show for the first time in Australia that experiences of discrimination are associated with higher rates of vaccine hesitancy. We also show that only 3.7 per cent of Australian adults thought the process for individuals getting the vaccine was going very well. Furthermore, only one-infive were not at all concerned about potential side effects from the COVID-19 vaccination.