Global Youth Vaccine Confidence Report 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic calls on all of us to work together to ensure and realize our collective health, safety, and wellbeing. This pandemic is not only a health crisis impacting hospitals and research laboratories, but it is also amplifying and exacerbating the inequities and injustices systematically marginalized communities and individuals experience. There is growing recognition of the importance of systemic interventions, communication, and community-based support and mobilization in “flattening the curve”, decreasing pressure and mitigating exposure to the harms experienced by frontline and essential workers, and saving lives.

The decisions we make individually and as part of a collective not only impact our own wellbeing but that of our communities. What if these decisions were not informed by scientific evidence and instead shaped by disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation? What if the spread of the infodemic outpaces that of credible sources of information in communities? The spread of disinformation on vaccines is especially dangerous because it can decrease vaccine confidence and increase hesitancy. Lack of trust in and adherence to public health measures risks delaying resolutions to the pandemic.

The Global Youth Vaccine Trust project seeks to identify how youth around the world are making decisions about vaccinating against COVID-19. For that purpose, a survey was created in order to assess which factors and reasons contribute to individuals' decisions to take or not take the COVID-19 vaccine. Our survey was translated from English to Arabic, French, Japanese, Hindi, Mandarin, Persian/Farsi/Dari, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Our survey focuses on information and vaccine literacy among youth 18 to 30 years of age. This report aims to address the spread of misinformation and disinformation on vaccines among youth and better support youth in making informed decisions about whether to vaccinate or not. The survey was translated into multiple languages to ensure the inclusion of diverse survey respondents who may not be proficient in English, and enable more youth to voice their opinions and concerns as it relates to vaccines.
International organizations and experts agree that credible, accurate, and accessible information about COVID-19 vaccines is essential for public health and collective wellbeing. Without this information, it will be difficult, especially for marginalized individuals and communities, to make informed decisions regarding their health and safety, and that of their communities and families. How can a member of the Portuguese speaking minority in the Amazonian Rainforest know how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or monitor themselves for symptoms if this information is not accessible in a language they understand? How can a community doctor in Chad decide if suspected patients should keep attending surgery if they do not have access to best practices and information related to COVID-19? How can someone who speaks Arabic in a remote Jordanian community decide on whether to engage in social distancing if they have only heard that COVID-19 is a hoax?

While youth confidence in vaccine development against COVID-19 varies across countries with different income-levels, the general trend in the global sample of youth indicated high levels of confidence, with only 8% of youth expressing disagreement with the statement that they are confident in sanitary measures to respond, manage and address the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 is magnifying and amplifying existing inequalities and access issues. Tackling these issues will require short- and long-term actions to address information inaccessibility, media and information literacy, and structural barriers that expose marginalized communities to greater risk in the face of crises, such as pandemics, conflicts, and climate disasters. The information gulf widens daily as scientists provide up-to-date guidance and advice which does not reach millions of people worldwide.

Our survey focuses on information and vaccine literacy among youth 18 to 30 years of age. This research project aims to address the spread of misinformation and disinformation on vaccines among youth and better support youth in making informed decisions about whether to vaccinate or not. The survey was translated into multiple languages to ensure the inclusion of diverse survey respondents who may not be proficient in English, and enable more youth to voice their opinions and concerns as it relates to vaccines. The survey is anonymous and we have no means to get in touch with participants.

To create survey questions, we analyzed existing surveys and research on youth, COVID-19 vaccines, and infodemiology (disinformation, misinformation, etc.). We compared research and findings on youth to non-youth answers in order to identify and understand any differences that may exist between these demographics.
The COVID-19 Youth Vaccine Trust survey (herein referred to as “the survey”) received 11,567 total responses from all age groups. Out of these, 10,026 were aged 30 and below and residing in 145 countries across 6 regions. Of these, 55.27% were female and 44.73% were male. 78 countries had 5 or more respondents aged 30 or below with a total of 9,897 respondents. This report focuses on responses from youth below 30 years of age from countries with 5 or more respondents.

Overall, our survey demonstrates general support for and trust in vaccines as a global trend among youth respondents. While youth confidence in vaccine development against COVID-19 varies across countries with different income-levels, the general trend in the global sample of youth indicated high levels of confidence, with only 8% of youth expressing disagreement with the statement that they are confident in sanitary measures to respond, manage, and address the COVID-19 pandemic.

We also observed that young people largely believe in the success of vaccines and indicate that it is very likely they would take the vaccine, with youth respondents in the Americas region reaching as high as 85% indicating they are very likely to take the vaccine. This is a significant finding, especially in light of the reported refusal of the general population to get vaccinated in some countries. This promising data may indicate the willingness of youth to take the vaccine once it is readily available for them.

It is important to note that youth respondents from Brazil, UK, India, Americas, and Europe indicated their interest in taking the vaccine as soon as possible. In comparison, a significant proportion of youth respondents from Western Pacific and Middle East indicated a desire to wait 3 to 12 months before taking the vaccine. In Africa and South-East Asia, there is a balanced proportion of youth who express confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, with 33% willing to take the vaccine as soon as possible and 35% wishing to wait 3 to 12 months before taking the vaccine. It is concerning that youth in many countries in Latin America, Africa and SouthEast Asia are experiencing poor supply, poor uptake, or slow roll-out of the vaccines.

The following report aims to identify and explain global and regional trends in youth vaccine trust, with recommended actions for addressing hesitancy and distrust, including further surveys and studies in especially hesitant geographies.

When we compared those who believe in (the efficacy) of vaccines to those who do not in our global sample, we found that respondents resistant to the idea of a vaccine were primarily influenced by two factors in their decision to take the vaccine: the mechanism of the vaccine and the length of vaccine clinical trials. Furthermore, youth from our global sample identified celebrities and influencers, the national government or health authority, and friends and family as the least trusted sources of information on vaccines.

The Youth Café works with young men and women around Africa as a trailblazer in advancing youth-led approaches toward achieving sustainable development, social equity, innovative solutions, community resilience and transformative change.