In a web-based survey of 1824 New Zealanders conducted before the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, 70% of respondents indicated they would likely take the vaccine once available. Survey respondents were part of a large, diverse, pre-existing social research sampling frame. Respondents who were unsure about or unlikely to get the vaccine were more likely to be young, female, and less educated, and were primarily concerned about unknown future side effects. There was no statistical association between ethnicity and vaccine hesitancy. The researchers suggested that public health efforts aimed at increasing vaccine acceptance among Māori and Pacific peoples should focus on inequities in health care access to increase uptake.
