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.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, Vaccine hesitancy, Vaccine acceptance, General public, Conspiracy theories, 【초록키워드】 Vaccine, cross-sectional, COVID-19 vaccination, male, Data analysis, age, General population, questionnaire, Study participants, Chinese, participant, circulating, Fisher exact test, Chi-square, vaccinate, statistical, significantly, reported, conducted, 【제목키워드】 survey, Population, acceptability, preference,