Perceived vaccine safety over time in a vaccine hesitant sample: Impact of pausing due to safety concerns

In the current effort to vaccinate as many people as possible against COVID-19, it has been suggested that events such as the pause in the use of the Janssen vaccine would have a large effect on perceptions of vaccine safety. Further, as vaccination rates slow, there is concern that hesitancy may be stable and difficult to change among those still unvaccinated. We examined both of these issues in our ongoing study of low-income participants. We modeled the intensive longitudinal data provided by 53 individuals. We found the negative, not statistically significant effect of the Janssen pause would be overwhelmed within weeks by the statistically significant increasing perceptions of safety across time. We also observed strong variability in vaccine hesitancy in many participants. Frequent reminders about vaccine availability might catch more people when they are less hesitant, helping increase vaccination rates.