International study reveals factors contributing to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare providers – EurekAlert

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Elsevier
New York, May 31, 2022 – A new 23-country study by a multidisciplinary team of researchers in the journal Vaccine, published by Elsevier, sheds light on the factors that contribute to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare providers.

To assess the associations between self-reported vaccine hesitancy and a number of sociodemographic and COVID-19 vaccine perception factors, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) Senior Scholar Jeffrey Lazarus, PhD, Dean Ayman El-Mohandes, MBBCh, MD, MPH, FAAP, and colleagues from the School of Health Administration at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain, developed a cross-sectional survey relating to perceptions of risk, efficacy, safety and trust, and current COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

The survey was administered to 23,000 adults in Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States in June 2021. Among the respondents, 3,295 identified as healthcare providers, such as physicians, nurses and community health workers.

Responses revealed that, although most healthcare providers had received one or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, a substantial minority reported hesitancy. Four hundred ninety-four (15.0%) of the participants reported being reluctant to accept a COVID-19 vaccine, and 132 (4.0%) of those said they would outright refuse it.

Of the healthcare providers surveyed, physicians were the least hesitant. Vaccine hesitancy was more likely to occur among those with less than the median income and, to a lesser degree, younger age. Safety and risk concerns and lack of trust that vaccines would be equitably distributed were strongly associated with hesitancy, less so were concerns about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

Previous studies have aimed to assess the potential acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare providers, but few have been published since the vaccines became widely available.

“These findings are troubling,” says Dean El-Mohandes. “Since healthcare workers’ hesitancy may influence community perceptions negatively, especially among patients and family members, and can contribute to their refusal or delayed uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine.”

“Vaccine hesitancy can impede the potential success of global vaccination campaigns, and, in turn, our ability to control the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Dr. Lazarus. “Training and campaigns reinforcing vaccine safety, dissemination of scientific data underpinning vaccine development, in addition to clear, consistent, and comprehensive information and engagement supporting the equitable distribution of vaccines are all potentially useful strategies to encourage healthcare professionals who are hesitant to vaccinate.”

Notes for editors
This article is “Factors affecting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare providers in 23 countries” by Jeanna Parsons Leigh, Stephana J. Moss, Trenton M. White, Camila A. Picchio, Kenneth H. Rabin, Scott C. Ratzan, Katarzyna Wyka, Ayman El-Mohandes, Jeffrey V. Lazarus (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.04.097). It appears as an Article in Press in journal Vaccine, published by Elsevier.

Full text of the article is also available to credentialed journalists upon request; please contact Elsevier's Newsroom at +31 20 485 2719 or newsroom@elsevier.com to obtain a copy.

Elsevier’s Novel Coronavirus Information Center provides expert-curated information for researchers, healthcare professionals and public health officials, including clinical guidance and a portal to access all of Elsevier’s COVID-19 research. All resources are freely available. We also have dedicated hubs for healthcare professionals; health educators and students; librarians; and R&D professionals. You can find these in our Coronavirus Resource Directory. www.elsevier.com/connect/coronavirus-information-center 

About CUNY SPH
The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) is committed to promoting and sustaining healthier populations in New York City and around the world through excellence in education, research and service in public health and by advocating for sound policy and practice to advance social justice and improve health outcomes for all. sph.cuny.edu

About Vaccine
Vaccine is the pre-eminent journal for those interested in vaccines and vaccination. It is the official journal of The Edward Jenner Society and The Japanese Society for Vaccinology and is published by Elsevier www.elsevier.com/locate/vaccine

About Elsevier
As a global leader in information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. We do this by facilitating insights and critical decision-making for customers across the global research and health ecosystems.

In everything we publish, we uphold the highest standards of quality and integrity. We bring that same rigor to our information analytics solutions for researchers, health professionals, institutions and funders.

Elsevier employs 8,700 people worldwide. We have supported the work of our research and health partners for more than 140 years. Growing from our roots in publishing, we offer knowledge and valuable analytics that help our users make breakthroughs and drive societal progress. Digital solutions such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath support strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and health education. Researchers and healthcare professionals rely on our over 2,700 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell; our over 43,000 eBook titles; and our iconic reference works, such as Gray's Anatomy. With the Elsevier Foundation and our external Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, we work in partnership with diverse stakeholders to advance inclusion and diversity in science, research and healthcare in developing countries and around the world.

Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com
Vaccine
10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.04.097
Experimental study
People
International study reveals factors contributing to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare providers
5-May-2022
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
Media Contacts
Ariana Costakes
CUNY SPH
ariana.costakes@sph.cuny.edu
Office: +1 646-364-9649

Dan DiPietro-James
Elsevier
dan.james@elsevier.com
Cell: 7732518744

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Copyright © 2022 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Copyright © 2022 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

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