Public Compliance Response to the COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign in Indonesia: A Study in Serang City, Banten, and Padang City, West Sumatra

This study focuses on analyzing public compliance with the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Serang and Padang Cities, located in Banten and West Sumatra Provinces, respectively. Therefore, the government has set a national vaccination target to achieve herd immunity. The implemented policy encountered challenges such as resistance from some communities due to doubts about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, alongside concerns about its halal status. This prompted the adoption of qualitative and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) methods to evaluate factors influencing compliance using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Compliance Gaining theory. The respondents belonged to varying age groups and were mostly workers. The results showed dissimilarity in compliance motivations in the two regions. For example, in Serang City, respondents had a high level of self-efficacy-based acceptance, and vaccination decisions were reliant on self-belief in personal health and trust in government authority. In Padang City, vaccination acceptance was influenced by external factors and subjective norms, including administrative obligations (school, travel, and work). In conclusion, the acceptance of the vaccine was strengthened by positive information and attenuated by misinformation concerning the side effects. Furthermore, the success of future health campaigns required credible and empathetic messaging. This was reliant on belief and ensured public compliance was perceived as administrative.