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Reduced social pressure and lack of capacity deteriorate vaccination compliance - The case of Lumpy Skin Disease
  • Michal Morgenstern,
  • Jaap Sok,
  • E. Klement
Michal Morgenstern
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Koret School of Veterinary Medicine

Corresponding Author:michal.morgenstern@mail.huji.ac.il

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Jaap Sok
Wageningen University & Research
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E. Klement
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Koret School of Veterinary Medicine
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Abstract

Successful prevention of epidemics depends on vaccine compliance and the resultant maintenance of high vaccination coverage for long periods. However, to the best of our knowledge, a study of the temporal dynamics of compliance in voluntary vaccination campaigns and of the factors which influence them was never published. In this study, we investigated the factors influencing the dynamics of vaccination compliance against lumpy skin disease (LSD) after the occurrence of LSD epidemics in Israel in 2012-2013 and 2019. From 2016 to 2019, we followed voluntary LSD annual vaccination among a cohort of 566 farmers and used questionnaires based on the theory of planned behaviour to investigate the incentives influencing vaccine compliance among 90 farmers. The results showed a reduction in vaccination against LSD from 61% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 and a very strong association between prior vaccination and vaccination compliance. The actual vaccination by farmers who stated a positive intention to vaccinate was 4.5 times higher than farmers who did not (p-value=0.007). However, half of the highly intended farmers eventually didn’t vaccinate their herd. These farmers were significantly more concerned by manpower and vaccine price compared to their vaccinating counterparts, pointing to vaccination effort perceptions as a major factor influencing compliance. In addition, we found that farmers who answered the questionnaires before the epidemic of 2019 perceived significantly less pressure to vaccinate imposed by veterinary organizations (private and governmental) than farmers answering them during or after the epidemic. We conclude that the veterinarian-associated social pressure is a major compliance-enhancing factor, influenced by the occurrence of an epidemic. Our findings suggest that the deterioration of vaccination compliance after an epidemic can be mitigated by maintenance of pressure to vaccinate by veterinarians. Manpower support and vaccine discounts may be advocated to promote vaccine compliance.
09 Feb 2022Submitted to Transboundary and Emerging Diseases
09 Feb 2022Submission Checks Completed
09 Feb 2022Assigned to Editor
16 Feb 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
12 Mar 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
05 May 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
15 May 20221st Revision Received
15 May 2022Submission Checks Completed
15 May 2022Assigned to Editor
25 May 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
25 May 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
01 Jun 20222nd Revision Received
01 Jun 2022Submission Checks Completed
01 Jun 2022Assigned to Editor
09 Jun 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
09 Jun 2022Editorial Decision: Accept