Predictors Affecting the Intention to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine among Youths in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia

Abstract

The pandemic of Covid-19 has brought devastating impact on the economic, social, politics and well-being to the people worldwide. Thus, to curb with the contagion of Covid-19 virus, vaccination is vital to achieve herd immunity as well as to return society to a normal status quo. This research aims to examine the factors that affect the intention to receive the Covid-19 vaccine among youth population in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia. Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as the fundamental theoretical framework was used to investigate the behavioural determinants associated with intention to get the Covid-19 vaccine. This study also investigated the main factors (attitude, perceived norms, level of education and mass media) on the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19. A quantitative method was used in this study which relied on the primary data collected through online questionnaires from 243 of youths living in Alor Setar using purposive sampling technique. This study also used descriptive and inferential statistics for data analysis purposes. Findings of this study indicate that majority of youth population in Alor Setar had a high level of Covid-19 vaccination intention. In addition, there were significant correlations between attitude, perceived norms and mass media with Covid-19 vaccination intention. However, the level of education did not correlate with the intention to receive the Covid-19 vaccine among the youth population. The results of this study recommend several strategies in enhancing the Covid-19 vaccination intention through the interventions by government or authorities, diffusion on social media and promotional campaigns on social media platforms.