Trust, conspiracy theory, and COVID-19 vaccination intention in Kazakhstan

Abstract

This study examined the association between trust, conspiracy thinking, and COVID-19 vaccination intention in Kazakhstan using representative cross-sectional data from 1,035 respondents. Our descriptive findings revealed that approximately 71% of the respondents had COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Moreover, the findings indicated that trust in the health sector (OR = 0.611, p < 0.01) and sources of information about COVID-19 (OR = 0.565, p < 0.01), and the use of antibiotics (OR = 0.913, p < 0.1) were associated with lower vaccine hesitancy. However, conspiracy thinking is associated with higher COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (OR = 1.155, p < 0.01). The associations between these variables and vaccine hesitancy remained robust across alternative model specifications. These results provide insights that it is important for the government, through institutions, to enhance people’s trust in information and the ability of the government to deal with pandemic issues, such as COVID-19. In addition, due to traditional beliefs and high conspiracy thinking among the people of Kazakhstan, there is a need to transform the people of Kazakhstan’s mindset and ensure transparency and accountability for the government to gain trust.