ABSTRACT
Objective: Vaccine hesitancy is a major hindrance in attaining herd immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluated the knowledge, attitudes and practices of University staff and students towards the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines. Design and Methods: A convenience sample was electronically accessed, by issuing a 29 question survey to staff and students at The UWI, St. Augustine, via the Marketing and Communication Office. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 27. Descriptive statistics were reported and Chi-squared tests sought to detect significant association between demographics and measured variables. A p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Result(s): Among 357 respondents, 84.7% thought vaccines provided protection, 98.6% were previously vaccinated against a disease and 71.1% favored compulsory vaccinations. Only 43.7% thought vaccines were safe and 56.9% were willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. More students (59.5%) were vaccinated against influenza. Participants aged 18-24 had significantly higher incidence of vaccinations (X2(2, N = 356) = 9.342, p = 0.009). Participants aged 45 and older showed greater knowledge on the number of deaths prevented by vaccination (X