Christian nationalism and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake

Vaccine. 2021 Oct 2:S0264-410X(21)01289-5. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.09.074. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTUnderstanding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake is vital for informing public health interventions. Prior U.S. research has found that religious conservatism is positively associated with anti-vaccine attitudes. One of the strongest predictors of anti-vaccine attitudes in the U.S. is Christian nationalism-a U.S. cultural ideology that wants civic life to be permeated by their particular form of nationalist Christianity. However, there are no studies examining the relationship between Christian nationalism and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake. Using a new nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, we find that Christian nationalism is one of the strongest predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and is negatively associated with having received or planning to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Since Christian nationalists make up approximately 20 percent of the population, these findings could have important implications for achieving herd immunity.PMID:34629205 | DOI:10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.09.074

Source: Vaccine - October 11, 2021 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Katie E Corcoran Christopher P Scheitle Bernard D DiGregorio Source Type: research