Trust in COVID-19 Vaccine Brands in Turkey
Authors: Ceylan Engin*, Eralp Kaan Karduz, Ladin Toplu
*Department of Sociology, Boğaziçi University
Funders of research: Our project, coded 21B08SUP2, is funded by BU Scientific Research Projects.
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Using Turkish COVID-19 Values Survey (TCVS), we examine the level of trust in BioNTech, Sinovac and Turkovac COVID-19 vaccines in Turkey and demonstrate how level of trust in vaccine brands differ by age and gender. TCVS was conducted face to face with 1500 participants in 2022. In the survey, the trust levels of the respondents for the COVID-19 vaccine brands (BioNTech, Sinovac, and Turkovac) were measured using a 11-point scale.
The results highlight that the BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is the most trusted COVID-19 vaccine among the Turkish population, followed by the Sinovac and Turkovac vaccines respectively (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Trust in COVID-19 vaccine brands, Turkey, 2022
The percentage of men placing themselves between the points from 0 to 4, thus reporting distrust towards the BioNTech vaccine, is slightly higher than the percentage of women (13.4% to 11.5%) (see Figure 2). Overall, on a scale from 0 to 10, The mean level of trust for the BioNTech vaccine is 5.91 (see Figure 1). Trust in the Biontech vaccine do not significantly differ by age or gender.
Figure 2. Trust in BioNTech vaccine by gender, Turkey 2022 (N=1486)
When it comes to the Sinovac vaccine, men report higher levels of distrust towards the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine than woman (20.3% vs. 18.5%) (See Figure 3) On a scale from 0 to 10, the mean level of trust for the Sinovac vaccine is 4.95 (See Figure 1). We find that trust in Sinovac vaccine significantly differ by both age and gender. More specifically, those who are 75 and older report the highest level of trust for the Sinovac vaccine. Women also show significantly more level of trust for the Sinovac vaccine compared to (5.11 vs. 4.79).
Figure 3. Trust in Sinovac vaccine by gender, Turkey 2022 (N=1476)
Examining the Turkovac vaccine, we find that the percentage of men placing themselves between the points from 0 to 4, thus reporting distrust towards the Turkovac vaccine, is slightly higher than that of women (20.7% vs. 18.9%) (See Figure 4). Overall, on a scale from 0 to 10, the mean level of trust for the Turkovac vaccine is 4.90 (See Figure 1). Trust in the Turkovac vaccine do not significantly differ by age or gender.
Figure 4. Trust in Turkovac vaccine by gender, Turkey 2022 (N=1464)
Sociology Data Lab (SDL)
Boğaziçi University
