Increased belief in vaccination conspiracy theories predicts increases in vaccination hesitancy and powerlessness: Results from a longitudinal study.

RATIONALE: Vaccinations are an important part of a public health strategy against preventable diseases, and uptake is influenced by factors including hesitancy. The belief of vaccine related misinformation including anti-vaccination conspiracy theories has been found to be associated with increased vaccine hesitancy. OBJECTIVE: While research suggests that these conspiracy theory beliefs may arise to satisfy unmet needs such as restoring loss of personal control, somewhat ironically these anti-vaccination conspiracy theories may frustrate these needs. This study examined the causal relationships between vaccination hesitancy, vaccination conspiracy theories, and vaccination related powerlessness. METHODS: Using a stationary random intercepts cross lagged panel model, we investigated the temporal ordering of vaccination hesitancy, powerlessness, and vaccination conspiracy theory beliefs in a sample of Australian adults (N = 500) in a longitudinal study with 5-timepoints over 4-months between June and October 2021. RESULTS: Results from a random intercept cross-lagged model, that separates between-person stability from within-person change, suggested that increased belief in vaccination conspiracy theories was associated with future increases in vaccination hesitancy and powerlessness (but not vice versa). Findings also showed that increases in vaccination hesitancy and conspiracy theory beliefs predicted respective increases from a person's trait-level mean at subsequent timepoints. CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination conspiracy theories appear to increase vaccination powerlessness and hesitancy, rather than satisfying an unmet need for personal control.

Prevalence and Outcomes of COVID-19 among Hematology/Oncology Patients and Providers of a Community-Facing Health System during the B1.1.529 ("Omicron") SARS-CoV-2 Variant Wave.

(1) Background: the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic continues, and patients actively receiving chemotherapy are known to be at enhanced risk for developing symptomatic disease with poorer outcomes. Our study evaluated the prevalence of COVID-19 among patients and providers of our community-facing county health system during the B1.1.529 ("Omicron") COVID-19 variant wave. (2) Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients that received care and clinical providers whom worked at the Jackson Memorial Hospital Hematology/Oncology clinic in Miami, Florida, USA, from 1 December 2021 through 30 April 2022. We assessed demographic variables and quality outcomes among patients. (3) Results: 1031 patients and 18 providers were retrospectively analyzed. 90 patients tested positive for COVID-19 (8.73%), while 6 providers tested positive (33.3%) (p = 0.038). There were 4 (10.3%) COVID-19-related deaths (and another outside our study timeframe) and 39 non-COVID-19-related deaths (89.7%) in the patient population (p = 0.77). COVID-19 accounted for 4.44% of our clinic's total mortality, and delayed care in 64.4% of patients. (4) Conclusions: The prevalence of COVID-19 positivity in our patient cohort mirrored local, state, and national trends, however a statistically significant greater proportion of our providers tested positive. Almost two-thirds of patients experienced a cancer treatment delay, significantly impacting oncologic care.