Patterns and Contexts of Anti-COVID-19 Vaccination in Romanian Local Communities

Abstract

Background: Are local communities relevant units for the analysis of anti-COVID 19 vaccination? This is the question we are addressing here for the case of Romania as an Eastern European society. Methods: To answer the question we used multiple regression models to predict cumulative rates of vaccination in rural communes and cities or towns of the country. The same relations among vaccination rates and several predictors were analysed not only in all the localities of the country but also in historical regions and urban versus rural areas. Results: Infection rates, the average age of the local population, population density and local human development proved to be rather stable predictors. Communities with higher vaccination rates are mostly urban, higher developed, with an older population, and also with higher rates of COVID-19 infections. Once local communities are placed in their regional context, significant differences emerge. Conclusions: Some variables are efficient discriminators of the vaccination behaviour irrespective of individual or aggregated level of the data. This is the case of age. If one considers only aggregated data at the community level in Romania, one can add infection rates and local development levels as invariant predictors acting beyond context