How to Improve People's Intentions Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination in China: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The global COVID-19 pandemic has impaired the health and living conditions of millions of people. For governments to formulate policies promoting vaccination behavior, it is important to understand individuals' intentions to vaccinate. This study explores the effectiveness of a brief online intervention based on the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) in improving individuals' COVID-19 vaccination intention, as well as considering the reasons for their unwillingness to get vaccinated.

A total of 1,258 participants were assessed using a questionnaire to determine their phase of vaccination intention (pre-intention, intention, and action). Subsequently, focused on the underlying factors in the pre-intention phase (i.e., task self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and risk perception), a 7-day randomized controlled HAPA intervention (n _intervention = 57, n _control = 49) was conducted online for individuals who were not willing to get vaccinated. The measurement points included pre- (T1), post- (T2), and 30-day follow-up (T3).

The intervention may effectively improve participants' COVID-19 vaccination intentions; however, it had no impact on their planning and actions involved in taking the vaccine.

This study provides relevant reference data for government stakeholders to use in developing public awareness campaigns and policies to encourage COVID-19 vaccination.