Racial/Ethnic Differences in COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Health Care Workers in 2 Large Academic Hospitals.
JAMA Netw Open
; 4(8): e2121931, 2021 Aug 02.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1377571
ABSTRACT
IMPORTANCE Significant differences in hesitancy to receive COVID-19 vaccination by race/ethnicity have been observed in several settings. Racial/ethnic differences in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among health care workers (HCWs), who face occupational and community exposure to COVID-19, have not been well described. OBJECTIVE:
To assess hesitancy to COVID-19 vaccination among HCWs across different racial/ethnic groups and assess factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. DESIGN, SETTING, ANDPARTICIPANTS:
This survey study was conducted among HCWs from 2 large academic hospitals (ie, a children's hospital and an adult hospital) over a 3-week period in November and December 2020. Eligible participants were HCWs with and without direct patient contact. A 3-step hierarchical multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between race/ethnicity and vaccine hesitancy controlling for demographic characteristics, employment characteristics, COVID-19 exposure risk, and being up to date with routine vaccinations. Data were analyzed from February through March 2021. MAIN OUTCOMES ANDMEASURES:
Vaccine hesitancy, defined as not planning on, being unsure about, or planning to delay vaccination, served as the outcome.RESULTS:
Among 34â¯865 HCWs eligible for this study, 12â¯034 individuals (34.5%) completed the survey and 10â¯871 individuals (32.2%) completed the survey and reported their race/ethnicity. Among 10â¯866 of these HCWs with data on sex, 8362 individuals (76.9%) were women, and among 10â¯833 HCWs with age data, 5923 individuals (54.5%) were younger than age 40 years. (Percentages for demographic and clinical characteristics are among the number of respondents for each type of question.) There were 8388 White individuals (77.2%), 882 Black individuals (8.1%), 845 Asian individuals (7.8%), and 449 individuals with other or mixed race/ethnicity (4.1%), and there were 307 Hispanic or Latino individuals (2.8%). Vaccine hesitancy was highest among Black HCWs (732 individuals [83.0%]) and Hispanic or Latino HCWs (195 individuals [63.5%]) (P < .001). Among 5440 HCWs with vaccine hesitancy, reasons given for hesitancy included concerns about side effects (4737 individuals [87.1%]), newness of the vaccine (4306 individuals [79.2%]), and lack of vaccine knowledge (4091 individuals [75.2%]). The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for vaccine hesitancy was 4.98 (95% CI, 4.11-6.03) among Black HCWs, 2.10 (95% CI, 1.63-2.70) among Hispanic or Latino HCWs, 1.48 (95% CI, 1.21-1.82) among HCWs with other or mixed race/ethnicity, and 1.47 (95% CI, 1.26-1.71) among Asian HCWs compared with White HCWs (P < .001). The aOR was decreased among Black HCWs when adjusting for employment characteristics and COVID-19 exposure risk (aOR, 4.87; 95% CI, 3.96-6.00; P < .001) and being up to date with prior vaccines (aOR, 4.48; 95% CI, 3.62-5.53; P < .001) but not among HCWs with other racial/ethnic backgrounds. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This study found that vaccine hesitancy before the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine was increased among Black, Hispanic or Latino, and Asian HCWs compared with White HCWs. These findings suggest that interventions focused on addressing vaccine hesitancy among HCWs are needed.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Ethnicity
/
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
/
Health Personnel
/
Racial Groups
/
COVID-19 Vaccines
/
COVID-19
/
Hospitals, Teaching
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Adult
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
JAMA Netw Open
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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