2021 COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Assessment

As the COVID-19 pandemic, and the use of COVID-19 vaccines, enters the second year, COVID-19 vaccination rates remain relatively low worldwide. Low vaccination rates can largely be attributed to vaccine hesitancies and misinformation rather than availability of the vaccine at this point in time. The COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Survey was created to gather information about individuals’ hesitancies or beliefs towards the vaccine within the Billings community and to help address the low vaccination rate. Survey data from 76 respondents are summarized and displayed throughout the full report with some key findings shown below. Given the feedback provided by community members, the following hesitancies/beliefs are the most important to address:

  • Vaccine Development and Approval
  • Vaccine Safety and Side Effects
  • Vaccine Information
  • Vaccine Efficacy and Effectiveness

Although vaccine hesitancy is best handled on an individual basis, there are several potential ways to generally address some of these concerns. These may include: developing a COVID-19 community core, educational videos, holding monthly question and answer (Q&A) sessions, and social proof.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Report can be viewed by clicking here. The report completed a 30-day public comment period on November 21, 2021.  Please send any questions or insights to AmeriCorps VISTA member Tori Doll at vista6@billingsmt.gov. 

Key Findings

vaccine like

Respondents were asked to rank their likelihood of getting the COVID-19 vaccine in the future on a scale of one (considering it) to five (never getting it).


overall hes W

Respondents were asked to select from a list of 19 hesitancy/belief options, with the ability to choose more than one answer, to best describe their hesitations.

word cloud

Respondents were given two open-ended comment sections to address any other hesitations or concerns they had about the COVID-19 vaccine as well as any thoughts or concerns they had about the Coronavirus pandemic or relief efforts. The responses from the two questions were combined as all respondents talked about the COVID-19 vaccine in the opened-ended section about the general pandemic. These responses were then categorized by key phrases or words and a word cloud was generated. The more responses received, the larger the text within the word cloud.

types updated

Based on their research into COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, Kaiser-Permanente determined there are seven different types of individuals when it comes to vaccination and how to address their hesitancies.