COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Health Care Workers

SummaryIn Austria, data on vaccine hesitancy is scarce. Available studies suggest around 1-11% of parents refuse vaccination, while many more are hesitant and consider refraining from some but not all of the recommended vaccinations. However, the key drivers for vaccine hesitancy in Austria are largely unknown. To learn more about vaccination coverage, attitude towards and knowledge around immunization as well as views on mandatory vaccination, we conducted a survey in a rural Austrian lay population including adults and children. Two paper-based questionnaires, one for adults 16 years or older and one for children aged 6-15 years, were developed, then sent to all houses of a rural community in Austria as well as handed out at the local primary and middle school, respectively. Self-reported coverage rates of children and adults were found to be low. Within the surveyed population 3% of children had never been or do not get vaccinated. More than half (57%) of the survey participants had a positive attitude towards vaccines, 21% were without reserves, 16% were found skeptical and 5% had a generally negative attitude. Knowledge about immunization in general was poor. Younger adults and people with secondary education appear to be most skeptical and negative towards vaccination. Children’s attitudes were closely linked to those of their parents. The major concern around vaccination in adults was fear of side effects. In adults, 54.2% support mandatory vaccination for Health Care Workers and 20.7% are against it. 39% of adults and 37% of children wanted more information on vaccination, preferably provided by physicians. Knowledge about disease prevention by vaccination should be improved and children could also benefit from an early age-appropriate vaccine education to strengthen health literacy. Physicians are the most trusted source of health information. Medical doctors should be aware of their very important role in transmitting trusted health information. This should include an up-to-date education in communicable disease prevention and immunization during their whole medical career. Furthermore, the curricula of health-care workers may need to be improved and harmonized concerning prevention and vaccination.

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Needed: Less influenza vaccine hesitancy and less presenteeism among health care workers in the COVID-19 era

Early Human Development ◽

10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2020.105215 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 105215

Author(s):

Victor Grech ◽

Michael Borg ◽

Charmaine Gauci ◽

Christopher Barbara ◽

Simon Attard-Montalto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Influenza Vaccine ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Care Workers

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Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccination Willingness among Health Care Workers: A Quick Online Survey in India

Korean Journal of Family Medicine ◽

10.4082/kjfm.21.0071 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 42 (6) ◽

pp. 445-452

Author(s):

Rajesh Kumar ◽

Kalpana Beniwal ◽

Yogesh Bahurupi ◽

Ravi Kant ◽

Mukesh Bairwa

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Perceived Risk ◽

Online Survey ◽

Vaccine Safety ◽

Economic Effects ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Multinomial Regression ◽

Chi Square ◽

Care Workers

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a large number of deaths along with severe socio-economic effects. The vaccine is considered to be the last hope to control viral transmission. This study aimed to explore the determinants of health care workers’ (HCWs) willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccination.Methods: A structured, pre-validated, and pre-tested questionnaire was administered online to 599 HCWs including physicians, residents, and nurses from different types of healthcare set-ups across India. Information was collected regarding vaccine acceptability, attitude toward vaccination, and reasons for hesitancy. The chi-square test, followed by multinomial regression analysis, was applied to determine the factors associated with HCWs’ vaccination willingness.Results: It was found that 73 % (n=437) of HCWs were willing to accept the vaccines, while 10.85% (n=65) refused and 16.2% (n=96) needed more time to decide. Gender (P<0.001), occupation (P=0.040), working as front-line workers (P=0.008), vaccine manufacturing country preferences (P<0.001), and perceived risk of catching COVID-19 in the next 6 months (P=0.005) had a significant association with intent to receive vaccination (the response were “yes” vs. “no” and “not sure”). The reasons for vaccine hesitancy were vaccine safety and efficacy concerns, antivaccine attitude and beliefs, personal choice, and not wanting to take a vaccine before others.Conclusion: The majority of HCWs agreed to take COVID-19 vaccines once available. Nevertheless, providing support to manage evolving vaccine environments will help change the perception of HCWs who refuse or are reluctant to take the vaccines.

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1182Vaccine hesitancy among health care workers: A study amidst COVID-19 vaccine drive in India

International Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/ije/dyab168.422 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Medha Mathur ◽

Navgeet Mathur

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Care Center ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Vaccination Site ◽

Validated Questionnaire ◽

Care Workers ◽

The Government

Abstract Background After the launch of COVID-19 vaccine by the government of India in 2021, the current study was conducted to assess the vaccine hesitancy among health care workers regarding COVID-19 vaccination and its safety, efficacy, rolling out strategy and undesirable effects. Methods This cross-sectional study, conducted on health care workers vaccinated at a tertiary care center of southern Rajasthan using a pre-designed and pre-validated questionnaire to collect data through the ‘Exit Interview’ technique after consent and ethical approval. Results Out of 3102, 56.8% were male and 43.2% were female health care workers. Out of total 80.7% and 73.2% of study participants perceived the vaccine as safe and effective respectively. The vaccine hesitancy was contributed due to apprehension for undesirable effects following immunization (19.3%). The commonest undesirable effect was pain at the injection site. The perception regarding the timing of rolling out of vaccine and readiness for COVID appropriate behavior after vaccination was significant (p < 0.001). The mean time spent at vaccination site was 33.90 (±11.34) minutes ranging 5-120 minutes (median = 35; interquartile range (IQR) = 10; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 33.50-34.30). Conclusions The study concludes that the apprehension of undesirable effects contributed to vaccine hesitancy, but it was perceived safe and effective by health care workers. Key messages The vaccine hesitancy among general population and vaccine acceptance will be affected directly by instance shown by health care workers who presented themselves at the forefront both for battling the pandemic and accepting the vaccine.

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Covishield vaccine experience in a health care setting

International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences ◽

10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20213095 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 2435

Author(s):

Hari Kishan Boorugu ◽

Krushna Chandra Misra ◽

B. Saroj Kumar Prusty

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Care Setting ◽

Vaccine Safety ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Injection Site Pain ◽

Care Workers ◽

Major Adverse Events ◽

Common Adverse Reaction ◽

Site Pain

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has affected the whole world and India is one among the most affected countries. Vaccination is the most important tool to halt this pandemic and vaccine hesitancy unfortunately derails vaccination drive. Vaccine hesitancy among people is mainly due to concerns about vaccine safety! This study was done to assess adverse effects of Covishield vaccine among health care workers in a single health care organization.Methods: All the vaccine recipients were requested to answer a questionnaire with demographic details and various side effects following both the doses of Covishield vaccination.Results: About 665 employees responded to the questionnaire and the most common adverse reaction following Covishield vaccine was injection site pain, which was reported by 63% of vaccinees after first dose of vaccine.Conclusions: Covishield vaccine is relatively safe and incidence of major adverse events are rare following vaccination.

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Knowledge of Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Attitudes and Practices Towards Anti-HPV Vaccination Among Israeli Pediatricians, Gynecologists, and Internal Medicine Doctors: Development and Validation of an Ad Hoc Questionnaire

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines7040157 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 157 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rola Khamisy-Farah ◽

Mohammad Adawi ◽

Haneen Jeries-Ghantous ◽

Jacob Bornstein ◽

Raymond Farah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Hpv Vaccine ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Lower Probability ◽

Care Providers ◽

Attitudes And Practices ◽

Care Workers

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a highly widespread virus which is responsible for one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. Two main preventative strategies exist: anti-HPV vaccination and cervical screening. Health-care workers play a key role in promoting public health campaigns; however, vaccine hesitancy is an often under-recognized challenge. To investigate the overall knowledge of HPV and HPV-related issues, as well as the attitudes and practices of health professionals towards recommending the anti-HPV vaccine, an ad hoc knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) questionnaire was developed and validated in a sample of 139 Israeli pediatricians, gynecologists, and internal medicine doctors. The KAP questionnaire was found to be psychometrically valid and sound (with an rKR-20 coefficient of 0.74 for the second part and a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.85 for the third part). Furthermore, the present study confirmed the importance of health-care providers in recommending the immunization practice. Parents that had been strongly advised by health-care providers to vaccinate their children accepted immunization for their girls (odds ratio (OR) 1.09 (95% CI 1.04–1.14)) and boys (OR 1.06 (95% CI 1.02–1.10)), had a lower probability of deciding to postpone the immunization appointment (OR 0.81 (95% CI 0.66–0.98)), had fewer doubts and concerns about the vaccine (OR 0.69 (95% CI 0.54–0.89)), and had a lower probability of refusing the vaccination (OR 0.93 (95% CI 0.86–0.99)). Interestingly, the use of new, emerging tools such as ad hoc websites, applications, and other interactive devices reduced vaccine hesitancy (OR 0.90 (95% CI 0.82–0.99)) and concerns about the side-effects of the vaccine (OR 0.92 (95% CI 0.86–0.99)). However, among Israeli health-care workers, knowledge was generally moderate, with updated information lacking in about 30% of surveyed health-care providers and approximately 20% of them not recommending the anti-HPV vaccine among boys. This study has practical implications for policy- and decision-makers in that they should be aware of the overall level of knowledge among health-care workers and should implement ad hoc educational interventions to address gaps in knowledge and help medical providers routinely recommend the anti-HPV vaccine both to male and female children and adolescents.

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COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among health care workers in Palestine: A call for action

Preventive Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106618 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 106618

Author(s):

Beesan Maraqa ◽

Zaher Nazzal ◽

Razan Rabi ◽

Nafez Sarhan ◽

Kamal Al-Shakhrah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Care Workers

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COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among undergraduate medical students: results from a nationwide survey in India

10.1101/2021.03.12.21253444 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jyoti Jain ◽

Suman Saurabh ◽

Akhil Dhanesh Goel ◽

Manoj Kumar Gupta ◽

Pankaj Bhardwaj ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Safety And Efficacy ◽

Awareness Campaigns ◽

Vaccine Trials ◽

Care Workers

SummaryCOVID-19 vaccine was launched in India on 16 January 2021, prioritizing health care workers which included medical students. We aimed to assess vaccine hesitancy and factors related to it among undergraduate medical students in India. An online questionnaire was filled by 1068 medical students across 22 states and union territories of India from 2 February – 7 March 2021. Vaccine hesitancy was found among 10.6%. Concern regarding vaccine safety and efficacy, hurried testing of vaccines prior to launch and lack of trust in government agencies predicted COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Risk perception regarding contracting COVID-19 vaccine reduced COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy as well as hesitation in participating in COVID-19 vaccine trials. Choosing between the two available vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) was considered important by medical students both for themselves and their future patients. Covishield was preferred to Covaxin by students. Majority of those willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine felt that it was important for them to resume their clinical posting, face-to-face classes and get their personal life back on track. Around three-fourths medical students viewed that COVID-19 vaccine should be made mandatory for both health care workers and international travellers. Prior adult vaccination didn’t have an effect upon COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Targeted awareness campaigns, regulatory oversight of vaccine trials and public release of safety and efficacy data and trust building activities could further reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among medical students.

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CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 VACCINATION DRIVE: THE PERCEPTIONS AND ACCEPTANCE OF VACCINATION AMONG HEALTH CARE WORKERS

Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research ◽

10.22159/ajpcr.2021.v14i6.41971 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 177-181

Author(s):

KASI VISWANATH ◽

HIREMATH RN ◽

SHARANJIT SINGH BASRA ◽

NIRAJ CHOUREY

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Role Model ◽

Vaccination Campaign ◽

Herd Immunity ◽

North India ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Care Workers ◽

Study Participants ◽

Awareness Level

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection evolved as a worst nightmare across entire humanity especially for health care workers along with all stakeholders of the society ever since the beginning of year 2020. Vaccination campaign is one of the most successful public health interventions and a cornerstone for the prevention of communicable infectious diseases. To have a baseline data and to form the basis for further vaccination drive, we carried out this study with an objective to understand the perception and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among health care workers (HCWs). Methods: A correctional study was carried out at one of the multispecialty hospital in North India where COVID-19 vaccination for HCWs was planned and 675 HCWs were taken into the study. Data were collected by means of personal interview using pretested semi-structured questionnaire and Epi Info version 6 was used for analysis. Results: The mean age of the participants was 32.78 years. Majority were male (89.48%), working in government sector (87.7%) and paramedic (88.15%). While 94.67% were accepting vaccine voluntarily while remaining were not confident enough on their own, only 26.96% were ready to take vaccine even on payment. The overall awareness scores of study participants were calculated and found that 79.56% of them had poor awareness level while only 20.44% had satisfactory awareness level. The association of awareness score was statistically significant with job profile (designation), gender, and prior COVID-19 positivity of study participants. Conclusion: The decision of vaccine prioritization to HCWs and frontline workers will boost the morale and spirit of warriors high in future. This study was a preliminary attempt to check any vaccine hesitancy factors among HCWs and act accordingly. Although almost all had volunteered for vaccine, the knowledge about vaccine was poor in majority of HCWs as the time period was recent to vaccine rollout and detailed research findings were not yet out about vaccine. All measures to be taken including intensive information education and communications activities targeting HCWs and general population on regular basis to upgrade the knowledge on vaccine issues. A strong communicating policy in an era of misinformation is highly recommended as social media plays an important role in spreading true as well as false messages jeopardizing the entire gains of successful vaccination and attainment of herd immunity. HCWs to act as role model for general public and patients which would in turn increase the vaccine acceptance among them.

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Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Nursing Home Staff and the Need for Ongoing Education and Vaccine Access

Clinical Medical Reviews and Reports ◽

10.31579/2690-8794/103 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 01-05

Author(s):

Ammu Thampi Susheela ◽

Dheeraj Mahajan ◽

Lori Porter

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Care Facility ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Term Care ◽

Care Workers ◽

Care Facilities

Objective: To study vaccine hesitancy among health care workers who provide direct care in nursing homes and long term care facilities which cater to the most vulnerable population of the community. Design: This is a cross sectional cohort study Setting and participants: The study was conducted on the front line healthcare workers who work in long term care facilities. Methods: A nationwide survey was conducted on the certified nurse assistants on November 16th 2020 which reached 7000 survey recipients. Results: Out of 7000 survey recipients, 3119 responded (45% response rate). There was 71.6% (2,233) negative response about taking the covid19 vaccine due to lack of trust and education of information Conclusions and implications: Our study concluded that the vaccine hesitancy is high among the health care workers of long-term care facility and that ongoing education and interactive dialogue with certified nurse assistants and ongoing access to vaccine is critical as the willingness improves.

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