Trust in COVID-19 information sources and vaccination status in the UK: An exploration of social inequalities and intra-UK comparisons using a representative survey

Abstract

Objectives: To explore how the use of and trust in different sources of Covid-19 pandemic information differed between UK nations, whether patterns of trust and use were socially stratified, and whether such patterns predicted Covid-19 vaccination status.

Methods: We used data from a UK-wide representative survey conducted in July 2021, which includes data on uptake of Covid-19 vaccination, trust in information sources, use of sources and geographical and socio-demographic variables. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify factors associated with completed or planned Covid-19 vaccination.

Results: Trust in the NHS, followed by trust in scientists, were the strongest predictors of vaccination intention. NHS websites were the most used source of Covid-19 information (56% across the UK), superseded in Scotland only by the Scottish Government website (58% in Scotland only). Using either source was associated with a positive vaccination status. Additionally, use of the GP and television as sources of advice were associated with positive vaccination status, while use of social media, family and friends, and ‘none’ of the sources enquired about, were all linked to a lower likelihood of vaccination. Compared to those in England, those in other UK nations were all less likely to trust the central UK Government for pandemic advice. We did not find strong gender differences, but found stark differences based on age and household income in terms of trust and use of some sources. Differences based on occupational class were even more pronounced.

Conclusions: The NHS as a national institution with high levels of public trust had a strong positive impact on the vaccination campaign in the UK. In the context of low levels of trust in the central UK government, we believe our evidence speaks to the broader benefits of having a national institution with high and positive brand recognition via which to distribute public health messaging.

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/13558196241227749

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https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/d706bc38-3484-4ec8-bb71-09e69cc03b6c