Why do people doubt vaccines? Predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Turkey

This study examines how COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is influenced by institutional trust, conspiracy theory beliefs, and political and religious values using novel data from the 2022 Turkish COVID-19 Values Study (TCVS). We find that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is widespread in Turkey. While 7.75% of the participants did not receive any COVID-19 vaccination, 4.51% received only one dose. Moreover, 16.09% of the population does not intend to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the future, whereas another 35.14% show indecision on this topic. Our findings demonstrate that greater belief in conspiracy theories, higher distrust in political and health institutions, and lower religiosity lead to greater COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Turkey. The results of our study imply that the national government and local municipalities need to readopt vaccine outreach efforts and disseminate trusted vaccination information in Turkey.