COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance during Pregnancy and Influencing Factors in South Korea.

Pregnant women were excluded from vaccination against Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) until September 2021 in South Korea. Although vaccination for pregnant women started in October 2021, vaccine acceptance in pregnant women is yet unknown. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate COVID-19 vaccine acceptance during pregnancy and influencing factors. An anonymous survey was distributed in obstetrics departments to all pregnant or postpartum women, during the prenatal or postpartum visit. The proportion of self-reported COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy among 436 women was 26.6%. Pregnancy-related independent factors influencing maternal COVID-19 vaccination were "received vaccine information about from obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) doctors" (OR 3.41, 95% CI 2.05-5.65), "cohabitant COVID-19 vaccination" (OR 2.43, 95% CI 1.06-5.59), and "second trimester" (OR 7.35, 95% CI 1.54-35.15). In women who did not want to get vaccinated, the most common reason for COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy was concern that COVID-19 vaccine might affect the fetus (91.7%, 243/266), followed by distrust in COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (42.6%, 113/266). This study showed that providing information about maternal COVID-19 vaccination, especially by OBGYN doctors, is crucial for increasing vaccination coverage in pregnant women. Providing updated evidence of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and safety in pregnant women may be also helpful for increasing vaccine acceptance.

Factors Affecting Preventive Health Behaviors against COVID-19 in Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

This study was conducted to identify factors affecting preventive health behaviors and to provide basic data for developing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevention and education programs. The participants were 218 students enrolled in two nursing colleges located near Gyeongsang and Jeolla province, Republic of Korea. Data were collected in December 2020 and analyses were conducted using t- and Scheffé tests, analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression with the SPSS/WIN 25.0 program (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). The factors affecting preventive health behaviors were fear of infection (ß = 0.26, p < 0.001), perceived benefits of COVID-19 infection control (ß = 0.20, p = 0.002), educational needs concerning COVID-19 infection control (ß = 0.18, p = 0.004), and perceived barriers to COVID-19 infection control (ß = 0.16, p = 0.011). To improve preventive health behaviors of nursing students against COVID-19, effective and practical education is required, and a systematic infection prevention education program should be developed considering the fear of COVID-19 infection and the perceived benefits and barriers in infection control.

Impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women in South Korea: Focusing on prevalence, severity, and clinical outcomes.

BACKGROUND: In the era of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there is a paucity of information regarding actual prevalence of COVID-19 in pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of COVID-19 infection and clinical outcome in pregnant women and non-pregnant women. METHODS: This is a nationwide cross-sectional study in South Korea between January 2020 and February 2021 using the claim database. The primary outcome was the prevalence of COVID-19 in pregnant women, and the secondary outcome was the occurrence of severe COVID-19 illness among infected patients. Severity of COVID-19 was classified into four categories according to WHO ordinal scale. RESULTS: The prevalence of COVID-19 infection was lower in pregnant women than non-pregnant women aged 20-44 (0·02% vs. 0.14%, p < 0.0001). However, among COVID-19 positive women at age 20-44, pregnant women was at higher risk of oxygen therapy after hospitalization (score 4 in WHO ordinal scale: 6.4% vs. 1.6%, p < 0.05). There were no deaths or hospitalized severe disease in pregnant women with COVID-19, although the majority of them (96·2%) were admitted to hospital. On the other hand, 42·3% of non-pregnant women at 20-44 age were admitted to hospital and 0.04% of them died and 0.1% had hospitalized severe disease. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of COVID-19 infection in pregnant women was lower than non-pregnant women in Korea, resulting in relatively small cases of fatality. It has implications that public health policy, such as an effective response to COVID-19 and a powerful preemptive strategy for pregnant women, can lower risk of COVID-19 infection and better clinical outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19.