No abstract

It is important to know the attitudes of students of health sciences (SHSs) towards vaccination since they will be tomorrow’s health professionals. Vaccination is a powerful tool in the fight against COVID-19. The aim of the present, cross-sectional study was to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the attitude of SHSs towards vaccination. Data were collected in the form of a questionnaire from all students of nursing, physiotherapy and chiropody matriculated at a Madrid University for the academic year 2019/2020 (i.e., before the start of the pandemic [Q1]), and from all those matriculated for the year 2021/22 (i.e., c18 months after the pandemic was declared [Q2]). A multivariate analysis was performed to identify the influence of sex, degree being studied, course year and the time of answering (Q1 or Q2), on the dimensions Beliefs, Behaviours and General Attitude. Overall, 1894 questionnaires were returned (934 [49.3%] for Q1, and 960 [50.7%] for Q2), of which 70.5% were completed by students of nursing, 14% by students of physiotherapy and 15.4% by those studying chiropody. In Q2, the results for all three dimensions were significantly better (p < 0.05). The most important influencing factors were being a student of nursing, being in the final years of training (years 3 or 4), female gender and answering at the time of Q2. The results obtained are encouraging since student nurses (who showed Q1 and Q2 General Attitude scores of 3.34 and 3.47 (maximum possible 4), respectively [p < 0.05]) are the health professionals of tomorrow most likely to be involved in vaccination programmes.

Vaccination against influenza and SARS-CoV-2 is recommended in health sciences students to reduce the risk of acquiring these diseases and transmitting them to patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate how the pandemic influenced the modification of influenza vaccination coverage during the 2019/2020 and 2021/2022 campaigns and to analyze the vaccination coverage against SARS-CoV-2 in health sciences students. A cross-sectional study was conducted among students of the Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry of the Complutense University of Madrid. A questionnaire was administered in two stages, the first, Q1, before the start of the pandemic, where we analyzed influenza coverage during the 2019/2020 campaign and a second, Q2, 18 months after the start of the pandemic where we analyzed influenza coverage during the 2021/2022 campaign and coverage against SARS-CoV-2. A total of 1894 students (58.78% of the total of those enrolled) participated. Flu vaccination coverage increased from 26.7% in Q1 to 35.0% in Q2 (p < 0.05), being higher in the age group older than 21 years, who studied nursing, were in their fourth year and lived with people at risk. Vaccination coverage against SARS-CoV-2 was very high (97.8%), especially in students vaccinated against influenza. Coverage of the influenza vaccine in health sciences students increased from 2019–2020 to 2021–2022, being higher in the age group older than 21 years, who studied nursing, were in their first and fourth year and lived with people at risk. Coverage of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in health sciences students was very high, especially in those vaccinated against influenza.