Willingness to accept a future influenza A(H7N9) vaccine in Beijing, China

The present study aimed to estimate residents' willingness to accept a future H7N9 vaccine and its determinants in the general adult population in Beijing, China.

We conducted a multi-stage sampling, cross-sectional survey using self-administered anonymous questionnaires from May to June, in 2014. The main outcome variable was residents' willingness to accept a future H7N9 vaccine. Logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of vaccination willingness.

Of the 7264 eligible participants, 14.5% of Beijing residents reported that they had not heard of H7N9. Among those who had heard of H7N9, 59.5% of the general adult population would be willing to accept a future H7N9 vaccine, and approximately half of them reported 'I am afraid of being infected by H7N9' and 'H7N9 vaccine can prevent infections', and 28.1% reported 'my daily life is affected by H7N9'. The variables that were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of reporting willingness were being younger adults (aged 18-29 years: OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.17-1.97; aged 30-39 years: OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.08-1.78), being farmers (OR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.32-1.96), being unemployed people (OR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.04-1.78), living in suburban areas (OR = 2.18; 95% CI: 1.89-2.51), having ≥2 children in the family (OR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.03-1.92), perceived risk in China (OR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.15-1.48), perceived susceptibility to disease (OR = 3.13; 95% CI: 2.73-3.58), perceived negative effect on daily life (OR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.13-1.55), perceived effectiveness of vaccination (OR = 2.34; 95% CI: 2.07-2.64), and recent uptake of influenza vaccine (OR = 2.26; 95% CI: 1.92-2.66).

A great number of Beijing residents had doubts about the vaccine's effectiveness and were not concerned about disease risk, which were the factors affecting willingness to be vaccinated. Targeted education programs on disease risk as well as vaccine's effectiveness are needed to improve the willingness of vaccination for potential H7N9 pandemic preparedness.