Perceptions of the introduction of the vaccination certificate among the general public in Geneva, Switzerland
Nehme M, Baysson H, Pullen N, Wisniak A, Pennacchio F, Zaballa ME, Fargnoli V Kaiser L, Hurst S, Burton-Jeangros C, Stringhini S, Guessous I, and the Specchio-COVID19 study group.
Perceptions of vaccination certificates among the general population in Geneva, Switzerland, Swiss Medical Weekly. 2021;151:w30079. doi:10.4414/SMW.2021.w30079.
Summary:
Objectives. The aim of this study was to assess the general population's perception of the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccination certificate in Switzerland.
Methods. Between 17 March and1 April 2021, an online self-questionnaire was offered via the Specchio-COVID19 platform to all persons aged 18 and over participating in one of the seroprevalence studies in Geneva, Switzerland. The questionnaire covered aspects relating to the individual and collective benefits of introducing the COVID-19 vaccination certificate. It enabled participants to select the contexts in which they felt a vaccination certificate should be presented. The results showed the proportion of people who agreed or disagreed with the introduction of the vaccination certificate in general and in different contexts. The potential risks associated with this introduction were also assessed by the participants. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios for factors associated with non-acceptance of the vaccination certificate.
Results. A total of 4,067 people completed the questionnaire (response rate 77.4%; mean age 53.3 ± standard deviation 14.4 years; 56.1% were women). Approximately 61% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that a vaccination certificate was required in certain contexts and 21.6% thought that there were no contexts for which a vaccination certificate was required. The contexts for which a majority of participants perceived that a vaccination certificate should be presented included jobs in contact with other people at risk of complications from COVID-19 (60.7%), jobs where employees would be at risk of being infected (58.7%), or opportunities to be exempted from quarantine when travelling abroad (56.0%). The contexts in which fewer individuals perceived the need to present a vaccination certificate were participation in large gatherings (36.9%), access to local social networks (35.5%), or sharing the same workspace (21.5%). For a younger age group, other factors were associated with non-acceptance of the introduction of the vaccination certificate, such as refusal to be vaccinated and not seeing vaccination as an important step in overcoming the pandemic. Refusal to be vaccinated, not considering vaccination to be an important step in overcoming the pandemic, and younger age were factors associated with non-acceptance of the introduction of the vaccination certificate.
Discussion. This large-scale study, conducted before the introduction of the vaccination certificate in Switzerland, showed that the majority of the population was in favour of it, particularly in work- and travel-related contexts. However, this solution was seen as unnecessary for access to large gatherings or social areas, or for sharing the same workspace. Differences were observed according to age, sex, level of education, socio-economic status and willingness to be vaccinated.
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