Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Regional Differences in Uptake of Vaccination against COVID-19 and Influenza in Germany—Results from the Digi-Hero Cohort

Version 1 : Received: 21 September 2023 / Approved: 21 September 2023 / Online: 21 September 2023 (10:34:49 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Klee, B.; Diexer, S.; Sarajan, M.H.; Glaser, N.; Binder, M.; Frese, T.; Girndt, M.; Sedding, D.; Hoell, J.I.; Moor, I.; Gekle, M.; Mikolajczyk, R.; Gottschick, C. Regional Differences in Uptake of Vaccination against COVID-19 and Influenza in Germany: Results from the DigiHero Cohort. Vaccines 2023, 11, 1640. Klee, B.; Diexer, S.; Sarajan, M.H.; Glaser, N.; Binder, M.; Frese, T.; Girndt, M.; Sedding, D.; Hoell, J.I.; Moor, I.; Gekle, M.; Mikolajczyk, R.; Gottschick, C. Regional Differences in Uptake of Vaccination against COVID-19 and Influenza in Germany: Results from the DigiHero Cohort. Vaccines 2023, 11, 1640.

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy substantially impacts global vaccination rates. During the COVID-19 pandem-ic in Germany, vaccination uptake exhibited considerable regional disparities. To assess the fac-tors contributing to this variation, we examined the influence of sociodemographic variables on COVID-19, COVID-19 booster, and influenza vaccinations within a cohort of 37,078 participants from 13 German federal states in the digital health cohort study, DigiHero. Our findings re-vealed variations in vaccination rates based on sociodemographic factors. However, these fac-tors had limited explanatory power regarding regional differences in vaccine uptake. In contrast, we found substantial correlations between regional support of specific parties during last local elections and the vaccination uptake at Landkreis-level. In conclusion, sociodemographic factors alone did not suffice to explain the regional disparities in vaccine uptake. Political stances can play a major role, but the current investigation did not assess the individual political orienta-tion, but used only ecological approach.

Keywords

COVID-19; influenza; vaccine hesitancy

Subject

Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.