ABSTRACT
IntroductionDespite a high proportion of workers infected with SARS-CoV-2 experienced no or mild symptoms, the business ought to shut down when there is an outbreak. Observational studies showed that willingness of COVID-19 vaccine increased vaccination rate. Although receiving booster shots may reduce infection and release symptoms, the public has concerns on booster vaccines and whether educational intervention improves the willingness remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a theory-based educational programme on improving willingness intention/actual uptake of booster doses and reducing infection in non-healthcare workers.Materials and MethodsThis is an ongoing 9-month randomized controlled trial (RCT) with two arms and single blinding. From April to June 2022, 299 workers enrolled from a variety of work settings were randomly allocated to intervention and control group. Intervention was an online educational programme based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which was implemented at the beginning and repeated at 3-month. The outcomes were changes of willingness intention/actual uptake of booster vaccine and infection, measured at pre- and post- intervention of baseline, at 3-month, 6-month and 9-month follow-up. The ethics approval number is CREC-2021.531-T.ResultsAt the baseline, about 61% workers received 3 doses and 38% had ever been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Compared with the pre-intervention, both the post-intervention and control group had improved attitude (26.5±9.4 vs 26.7±9.4) and perceived behavioral control (30.7±8.1 vs 29.5±8.5), with a slightly better for the intervention group. These scores decreased slightly at 3-month intervention (28.7±8.7 vs 28.7±8.9), but they were still higher than the pre-intervention measurements. A similar pattern was observed for willingness intention to uptake booster doses but not for the infection rate.ConclusionsThis RCT shows that education intervention increased willingness of getting booster shots via improving attitude and perceived behavior control, but the effect was not significant. [HMRF#COVID1903008, shelly@cuhk.edu.hk]