Health Management & Information Science

Health Management & Information Science

Social capital and Covid-19 vaccination coverage: An ecological study among 130 countries

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohadeseh Ghanbari-Jahromi 1
Farzaneh Mobasheri 1
Leila Jahangiry 2
Zahra Maleki 3
Fatemeh Rezaei 1
1 Research Center for Social Determinants of Health, Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Jahrom, Iran
2 Health Education and Health Promotion Department, School of Health, Medical Education Research Center, Health Management and Safety Promotion Research Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
3 Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
10.30476/jhmi.2024.103696.1235
Abstract
Introduction: The effect of COVID-19 vaccination coverage on the role of social capital as an essential dimension in disease prevention is undeniable. This study investigated the correlation between Covid-19 vaccination coverage and social capital.
Methods: This ecological study used aggregate data from 130 countries. A fully vaccinated index was used to cover the COVID-19 vaccination. The main variable was the cumulative fully COVID-19 vaccinated population share data, which was retrieved from Our World in Data repository. The data related to social capital was retrieved from the global sustainable competitiveness databases.
Results: Cumulative fully vaccinated population shares related to COVID-19 were 46.83%. The higher rate of cumulative fully vaccinated population shares related to Covid-19 was reported in the United Arab Emirates (90.28%), Portugal (88.98%), and Singapore (87.00%), and also the lower rate of cumulative fully vaccinated population shares related to Covid-19 were reported from Burundi (0.02), Chad (0.48), and Haiti (0.61). There was a positive significant association between cumulative fully vaccinated population shares and social capital (r=0.74, p<0.001). A positive significant association between cumulative fully vaccinated population shares and social capital was found in 39 high-income countries (r=0.33, p=0.03), 36 upper-middle-income countries (r=035, p=0.04), and 36 lower-middle-income countries (r=0.51, p=0.002).
Conclusion: A strong positive association between cumulative fully vaccinated population shares and social capital in the countries was observed. Appropriate interventions are needed to increase the level of social capital and its components in countries to increase access to vaccination and health status in countries in the conditions of a pandemic.
Keywords
Covid-19
Vaccination
Social capital
Income
Subjects
  1. Bartsch SM, O'Shea KJ, Ferguson MC, Bottazzi ME, Wedlock PT, Strych U, et al. Vaccine efficacy needed for a COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine to prevent or stop an epidemic as the sole intervention. 2020;59(4):493-503.
  2. Robinson E, Jones A, Daly MJV. International estimates of intended uptake and refusal of COVID-19 vaccines: A rapid systematic review and meta-analysis of large nationally representative samples. 2021;39(15):2024-34.
  3. Ferwana I, Varshney LR. Social capital dimensions are differentially associated with COVID-19 vaccinations, masks, and physical distancing. Plos one. 2021;16(12):e0260818.
  4. Szilagyi PG, Thomas K, Shah MD, Vizueta N, Cui Y, Vangala S, et al. National trends in the US public’s likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine—April 1 to December 8, 2020. Jama. 2021;325(4):396-8.
  5. Loomba S, de Figueiredo A, Piatek SJ, de Graaf K, Larson HJ. Measuring the impact of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on vaccination intent in the UK and USA. Nature human behaviour. 2021;5(3):337-48.
  6. Bavel JJV, Baicker K, Boggio PS, Capraro V, Cichocka A, Cikara M, et al. Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response. Nature human behaviour. 2020;4(5):460-71.
  7. McLeroy KR, Bibeau D, Steckler A, Glanz K. An ecological perspective on health promotion programs. Health Educ Q. 1988;15(4):351-77.
  8. Kumar S, Quinn SC, Kim KH, Musa D, Hilyard KM, Freimuth VS. The social ecological model as a framework for determinants of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine uptake in the United States. Health Educ Behav. 2012;39(2):229-43.
  9. Bogart LM, Ojikutu BO, Tyagi K, Klein DJ, Mutchler MG, Dong L, et al. COVID-19 related medical mistrust, health impacts, and potential vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans living with HIV. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2021;86(2):200.
  10. Chuang Y-C, Huang Y-L, Tseng K-C, Yen C-H, Yang L-h. Social capital and health-protective behavior intentions in an influenza pandemic. PloS one. 2015;10(4):e0122970.
  11. Ehsan A, Klaas HS, Bastianen A, Spini D. Social capital and health: a systematic review of systematic reviews. SSM Popul Health. 2019;8:100425.
  12. Kawachi I. Social capital and community effects on population and individual health. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1999;896(1):120-30.
  13. Nawa N, Fujiwara T. Association between social capital and second dose of measles vaccination in Japan: Results from the A-CHILD study. Vaccine. 2019;37(6):877-81.
  14. Bartscher AK, Seitz S, Siegloch S, Slotwinski M, Wehrhöfer N. Social capital and the spread of Covid-19: Insights from European countries. J Health Econ. 2021;80:102531.
  15. https://solability.com/the-global-sustainable-competitiveness-index/the-index/social-capital.
  16. Our World in Data. Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations. Available from :https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations.

 [Internet].  [cited 31dec2021].

  1. Campos MC, Dombrowski JG, Phelan J, Marinho CR, Hibberd M, Clark TG, et al. Zika might not be acting alone: Using an ecological study approach to investigate potential co-acting risk factors for an unusual pattern of microcephaly in Brazil. PLoS One. 2018;13(8):e0201452.
  2. Fares S, Elmnyer MM, Mohamed SS, Elsayed R. COVID-19 vaccination perception and attitude among healthcare workers in Egypt. J Prim Care Community Health. 2021;12:21501327211013303.
  3. Evans DR, Yemeke TT, Kiracho EE, Mutebi A, Apolot RR, Ssebagereka A, et al. Trust in vaccines and medicines in Uganda. Vaccine. 2019;37(40):6008-15.
  4. Halpern D. Social capital: Polity; 2005.
  5. Wilson SL, Wiysonge C. Social media and vaccine hesitancy. BMJ global health. 2020;5(10):e004206.
  6. Gesthuizen M, Van der Meer T, Scheepers P. Ethnic diversity and social capital in Europe: tests of Putnam's thesis in European countries. Scan Polit Stud. 2009;32(2):121-42.
  7. Ghazi H, Taher T, Alfadhul S, Al-Mahmood S, Hassan S, Hamoudi T, et al. Acceptance Of Covid-19 Vaccine Among General Population In Iraq: Acceptance Of Covid-19 Vaccine Among General Population In Iraq. Iraqi National Journal of Medicine. 2021;3(1):93-103.
  8. Lazarus JV, Ratzan SC, Palayew A, Gostin LO, Larson HJ, Rabin K, et al. A global survey of potential acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine. Nature medicine. 2021;27(2):225-8.
  9. Frank K, Arim R. Canadians' willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine: group differences and reasons for vaccine hesitancy: Statistics Canada= Statistique Canada; 2020.
  10. Guidry JPD, Laestadius LI, Vraga EK, Miller CA, Perrin PB, Burton CW, et al. Willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine with and without emergency use authorization. American journal of infection control. 2021;49(2):137-42.
  11. Palanisamy B, Gopichandran V, Kosalram K. Social capital, trust in health information, and acceptance of Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign in Tamil Nadu: A case-control study. Journal of postgraduate medicine. 2018;64(4):212-9.
  12. Jung M, Lin L, Viswanath K. Associations between health communication behaviors, neighborhood social capital, vaccine knowledge, and parents’ H1N1 vaccination of their children. Vaccine. 2013;31(42):4860-6.
  13. Rahn WM, Transue JE. Social trust and value change: The decline of social capital in American youth, 1976–1995. Polit Psychol. 1998;19(3):545-65.
  14. Co-operation OfE, Development. Enhancing public trust in COVID-19 vaccination: The role of governments: OECD Publishing; 2021.
  15. Qiao S, Li Z, Zhang J, Sun X, Garrett C, Li X. Social Capital, Urbanization Level, and COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake in the United States: A National Level Analysis. Vaccines. 2022;10(4):625.
  16. Nagaoka K, Fujiwara T, Ito J. Do income inequality and social capital associate with measles-containing vaccine coverage rate? Vaccine. 2012;30(52):7481-8.
  17. Moore S, Carpiano RM. Introduction to the special issue on “Social capital and health: What have we learned in the last 20 years and where do we go from here?”. Soc Sci Med. 2020.
  18. Ali HA, Hartner A-M, Echeverria-Londono S, Roth J, Li X, Abbas K, et al. Vaccine equity in low and middle income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Equity Health. 2022;21(1):82.
  19. Ray D, Linden M. Health, inequality and income: a global study using simultaneous model. J Econ Struct. 2018;7(1):22.
  20. Pabayo R, Kawachi I, Gilman SE. US State-level income inequality and risks of heart attack and coronary risk behaviors: longitudinal findings. International journal of public health. 2015;60(5):573-88.
Health Management & Information Science
Volume 11, Issue 2
Spring 2024
Pages 76-84