WP22/04: Public support for COVID-19 vaccine mandates and policies in New Zealand

Working Paper 22/04

Komathi Kolandai
Barry Milne
Martin von Randow
Chris Bullen
Samantha Marsh

Some scholars have raised the ethics of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination and suggested its use as a last resort if a vaccine proves helpful in preventing transmission (see Gur-Arie, et al., 2021; Marco-Franco, et al., 2021; Savulescu, 2021). Others have recommended mandatory vaccination considering the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy (see Feleszko, et al., 2021). In a 13 April 2021 policy brief, the World Health Organization advised that mandatory vaccination should be considered after steps to address vaccine hesitancy fail to encourage uptake among a substantial portion of the population, placing others at significant risk of serious harm (World Health Organization, 2021).

Earlier surveys have suggested vaccine hesitancy among about a quarter of the population in New Zealand (Thaker, 2021; Thaker & Ganchoudhuri, 2021). Nevertheless, in 2021, single-dose vaccinations rose from 32.6% on 17 August to 67.8% on 10 October (Our World in Data, 2022), suggesting a surge in first-time vaccine uptake – possibly triggered by the detection of the first cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant in the community in mid-August 2021. Although this appeared to be a promising trend in voluntary uptake, mandatory vaccination in New Zealand, which was initially restricted to personnel within managed quarantine facilities and border settings, was rapidly extended to other sectors. For instance, mandatory vaccination for school and early learning staff and high-risk health and disability sectors was announced on 11 October 2021 (Hipkins, 2021). In November 2021, the vaccine mandate was extended to the New Zealand Police and Defence Force (Wood, 2021).

The New Zealand Government also announced an impending vaccine pass in October 2021 (Newsroom, 2021), which came into force later in the year requiring workers in public-facing non-essential services (e.g. hospitality, gyms, hair salons) to be fully vaccinated by 17 January 2022 (Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment, 2022). Public members were required to present vaccine passes to access these services. During this rapid mandate extensions phase, single-dose vaccinations rose from 68.1% on 11 October 2021 to 78.7% on 17 January 2022 (Our World in Data, 2022) – an increase in uptake that may have been partly prompted by the mandates. However, aside from the anti-mandate demonstrations on Parliament grounds in February/March 2022, we know little about the broader public’s views about mandatory vaccinations.

In this study, will test the following hypotheses:

• Similar to observations in Germany and the US, public support for vaccine mandates in New Zealand would be divided, with 50% supporting and 50% opposing (H1). In Germany, people were split about vaccine mandates, with approximately half in favour and half against (Graeber, et al., 2021). In the US, acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate was also divided, with 40.9% accepting and 44.9% unaccepting (Largent, et al., 2020).
• Vaccinated individuals will likely be more supportive of the mandates than unvaccinated individuals (H2).
• Higher support for the mandates would be associated with an increase in confidence in the Government (within the context of how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled in New Zealand) (H3).

Additionally, we will explore if any sociodemographic variables (e.g. gender, age, education, ethnicity) were associated with stronger mandates support.

Findings could inform future vaccination policy decisions in New Zealand.

Question sets embedded in the ISSP Health and Health Care 2022 survey; data collection to end 30 June 2022.

International Social Survey Programme

Social Attitudes Survey New Zealand

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