Ms Lee Li Li, consulting psychologist was invited to share on the topic, "Why do some people still refuse to get the Covid-19 vaccine?", on 8TV “Living Delight”, on 27.10.2021 (Wednesday), 2:00 pm. There may be many complex psychological factors behind vaccination refusal. These complex factors that contribute to vaccination refusal need to be understood and properly addressed if we want to achieve herd immunity.

Why Do People Refuse to Get Vaccines?

First of all, we can't assume that everyone who refuses vaccines for the same reason. Different internal/external psychological factors (e.g., past events, vaccine rumours, etc.) may cause people to perceive threats differently (e.g., conspiracy theories, false virus data, harmful effects to the body or next generation, etc.). These threat perceptions and negative interpretations may also contribute to anxiety and panic about vaccination, resulting in adverse physical/cognitive symptoms (e.g., shortness of breath, sweating, shivering, etc.) or some avoidance/defensive behaviours.

On the other hand, there may be various concerns behind people who are hesitating in getting vaccinated. For example, refusing or delaying vaccination for some reason, discouraging others from getting vaccinated after vaccination or waiting for a more desirable vaccine. For people who are on the fence, we can boost their confidence in vaccines by feeding them more information about vaccination. As for those behaviours of vaccination refusal, we can deeply explore the story behind these people from the psychological aspect, so as to provide them more appropriate help.

In the interest of public safety, the government's response to some extent, has limited the convenience of vaccination refusers. This may provoke resistance and even deviant behaviour of the vaccination refusers. In addition, the speed of development, reliability, effectiveness and safety of Covid-19 vaccines affects people's confidence in vaccination. Therefore, we need to continue to educate and instil reliable and complete information to the public about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. People around the vaccination refusers are advised to accept and listen to their concerns, build trust and confidence, and give them correct and appropriate information to increase their acceptance of vaccines.

Please feel free to click the link below to listen to the full interview.


Note： The above content is adopted from 8TV, “Living Delights”: "Why do some people still refuse to get the Covid-19 vaccine?" on 27.10.2021. For further information and assistance, please contact us.