ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 vaccine has been available in China since the beginning of the 2021, however, certain numbers of people are reluctant for some reasons to vaccinate. The high vaccine coverage is crucial for controlling disease transmission. Meanwhile, the vaccine hesitancy might be a barrier to the establishment of sufficient herd immunization. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy towards the COVID-19 vaccine among different population groups, and explores the characteristics of different groups about vaccine hesitancy and common barriers and facilitators to vaccination decisions. Methods: : The current survey was performed among students, public health professionals, medical workers and general population from January to March 2021 among Chinese from seven cities located in seven geographical territories of China. The questionnaire contained sociodemographic information, concerns about COVID-19 epidemic, general vaccination behavior and attitudes, the General Vaccine Hesitancy Scale, the COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Scale and other potential factors of vaccine hesitancy. Univariate analysis was conducted by chi-squared test, and variables were significant at P < 0.10 were then included in a multivariable regression model. Results: : The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was 64.1% in our study, and a higher prevalence (73.7%) was in public health professionals compared to students (58.3%), medical workers (64.9%) and general population (61.1%). The results of multivariate analysis indicated that public health professionals were more likely to be hesitant against COVID-19 vaccine than general population (OR: 1.469, 95% CI: 1.069-2.019. And participants who needed transparent information about COVID-19 vaccine development, efficacy and safety (OR: 1.609, 95% CI: 1.343-1.928) and who have received negative information of COVID-19 vaccine (OR: 1.300, 95% CI: 1.130-1.496) were more likely to have vaccine hesitancy. Conclusions: : Appropriate training in knowledge and communication skills about vaccines are necessary for public health professionals to help themselves and the public to increase their willingness of vaccination. Reducing the spread of misinformation and disseminating facts in a timely and accurate way will likely reduce vaccine hesitancy. Also, to establish suitable communication strategies between the government and the public and a warning system on infodemic would be helpful to improve public’s confidence in vaccination.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
Background: College students are a uniquely vulnerable group and may experience high stress levels due to COVID-19, especially for girls. This study aims to identify the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and related factors among the target population during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. A total of 2205 college female students from six provinces enrolled in this study and completed the questions about cognitive status of COVID-19, the Impact of Event Scale-6 (IES-6), the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (MPSSS) and a self-developed 10-item Perceived threat scale. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed by SPSS software to explore the determinants of PTSD symptoms. Results: PTSD symptoms were prevalent in this sample of college female students, and 34.20% met the cut-off for PTSD. Self-reported fair or poor health (AOR=1.78, 95%CI: 1.22-2.59), high concern about COVID-19 (AOR=1.66, 95%CI: 1.35-2.03), beliefs that 'COVID-19 can cause a global outbreak' (AOR=1.26, 95%CI: 1.02-1.56), the perception of ‘risk of infection’ (AOR=2.46, 95%CI: 2.16-2.81), beliefs that ‘closed management’ and ‘COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern’ would have an impact, and the fear of ‘impact on life planning’ were all positively associated with PTSD (AOR=1.37, 1.22 and 1.29, respectively), whereas perceived social support from family (AOR=0.81, 95%CI: 0.70-0.93) was negatively associated with PTSD. Among the significant variables at the bivariate level, multivariate logistic regression revealed that the greatest protector for PTSD was the high knowledge score (AOR=0.73, 95%CI: 0.60-0.90), while had confirmed cases among relatives and friends (AOR=7.70, 95%CI: 1.28-46.25) was the strongest predictor of PTSD. Conclusions: In summary, PTSD symptoms were prevalent among college female students in China during the COVID-19 epidemic. Targeting vulnerable populations to improve their knowledge of COVID-19 and create an atmosphere of social support would be beneficial to improve the mental health of the female students during the COVID-19 epidemic.