A National Survey to Assess the COVID-19 Vaccine-Related Conspiracy Beliefs, Acceptability, Preference, and Willingness to Pay among the General Population of Pakistan
Muhammad Subhan Arshad,
Iltaf Hussain,
Tahir Mahmood,
Khezar Hayat,
Abdul Majeed,
Imran Imran,
Hamid Saeed,
Muhammad Omer Iqbal,
Muhammad Uzair,
Anees ur Rehman,
Waseem Ashraf,
Areeba Usman,
Shahzada Khurram Syed,
Muqarrab Akbar,
Muhammad Omer Chaudhry,
Basit Ramzan,
Muhammad Islam,
Muhammad Usman Saleem,
Waleed Shakeel,
Iram Iqbal,
Furqan Hashmi,
Muhammad Fawad Rasool
Affiliations
Muhammad Subhan Arshad
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Iltaf Hussain
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Tahir Mahmood
Department of Communication Studies, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Khezar Hayat
Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Abdul Majeed
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Imran Imran
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Hamid Saeed
Allama Iqbal Campus, University of the Punjab, University College of Pharmacy, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Muhammad Omer Iqbal
Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs (Ministry of Education), Shandong Laboratory of Glycoscience and Glycoengineering, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China Qingdao, Shandong 266003, China
Muhammad Uzair
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Anees ur Rehman
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Waseem Ashraf
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Areeba Usman
Nishter Medical Hospital, Multan 59070, Pakistan
Shahzada Khurram Syed
Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of Management and Technology Lahore, Lahore 54770, Pakistan
Muqarrab Akbar
Department of Political Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Muhammad Omer Chaudhry
School of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Basit Ramzan
Al-Shifa Pharmacy, Multan 60650, Pakistan
Muhammad Islam
Allama Iqbal Campus, University of the Punjab, University College of Pharmacy, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Muhammad Usman Saleem
Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Waleed Shakeel
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Iram Iqbal
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Furqan Hashmi
Allama Iqbal Campus, University of the Punjab, University College of Pharmacy, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Muhammad Fawad Rasool
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
The current study aims to assess the beliefs of the general public in Pakistan towards conspiracy theories, acceptance, willingness to pay, and preference for the COVID-19 vaccine. A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online self-administered questionnaire during January 2021. The Chi-square test or Fisher exact test was utilized for statistical data analysis. A total of 2158 respondents completed the questionnaire, among them 1192 (55.2%) were male with 23.87 (SD: ±6.23) years as mean age. The conspiracy beliefs circulating regarding the COVID-19 vaccine were believed by 9.3% to 28.4% of the study participants. Among them, 1040 (48.2%) agreed to vaccinate on its availability while 934 (43.3%) reported the Chinese vaccine as their preference. The conspiracy beliefs of the participants were significantly associated with acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine. The existence of conspiracy beliefs and low vaccine acceptance among the general population is a serious threat to successful COVID-19 vaccination.
