TY - JOUR
AU - Buckell, John
AU - Jones, Joel
AU - Matthews, Philippa C.
AU - Diamond, Ian
AU - Rourke, Emma
AU - Studley, Ruth
AU - Cook, Duncan
AU - Walker, A. Sarah
AU - Pouwels, Koen B.
AU - COVID-19 Infection Survey Group
PY - 2023
DA - May
TI - COVID-19 vaccination, risk-compensatory behaviours, and contacts in the UK
JO - Scientific Reports
VL - 13
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-34244-2
AB - The physiological effects of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) are well documented, yet the behavioural effects not well known. Risk compensation suggests that gains in personal safety, as a result of vaccination, are offset by increases in risky behaviour, such as socialising, commuting and working outside the home. This is potentially important because transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is driven by contacts, which could be amplified by vaccine-related risk compensation. Here, we show that behaviours were overall unrelated to personal vaccination, but—adjusting for variation in mitigation policies—were responsive to the level of vaccination in the wider population: individuals in the UK were risk compensating when rates of vaccination were rising. This effect was observed across four nations of the UK, each of which varied policies autonomously.
PB - Springer Nature
UR - https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/301992/
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ER