Attitudes and Behavior toward COVID-19 Vaccination in Japanese University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: It is said that safe and effective vaccination is an important tool to end the COVID-19 pandemic. However, recent studies have reported hesitation, especially in young adults. Promoting the vaccination of university students, who represent the young adults, will lead to infection prevention measures. The purpose of this study was to clarify to compare the vaccination rates, attitudes toward vaccines, and post-vaccination behavior of students and faculty members in order to understand the actual situation of young population. Methods: We conducted large-scale vaccination of Hiroshima University from 21 June to 18 September 2021. This cross-sectional survey was conducted via e-mail from 27 September to 3 October 2021. Results: The number of second inoculations was 10,833 /14,154 students (76.5%), and 2240/2583 staff members (86.7%). Regarding the impressions after vaccination, the most common answer was “I was able to prevent worsening of the disease even if I was infected”. Many students answered that their range of activities had expanded after vaccination. However, many students (n = 1799, 87.8%) answered as having “no change after vaccination” regarding infection prevention. Conclusion: The high vaccination rate in this survey was thought to be due to the increased sense of security and confidence in the vaccine. The fact that young adults who perform a wide range of activities are careful about infection prevention may be one of the factors that prevents the explosive spread of infection in Japan.

COVID-19 Risk Perception and Adherence to Preventive Measures among Medical Students after Receiving COVID-19 Vaccination: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study in Egypt

“…In addition, the high vaccination coverage in our sample may urge students to return to their normal social life as they perceive they are protected by the vaccine. This is in line with Okamoto’s recent study on the change in student and academic staff attitudes following vaccination [ 28 ]. This behavior has been recently highlighted by the Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies who refer to it as “risk compensation”, which occurs usually when people feel they are no longer suspected to be infected, due to vaccination [ 29 ].…”

Comparison of Impressions of COVID-19 Vaccinations Stratified by the Number of Vaccinations Among Japanese Healthcare Professional University Students

“…Previous studies investigated impressions of COVID-19 vaccinations using a qualitative method [ 9 - 11 ]. Muscillo et al evaluated impressions of COVID-19 vaccinations in 395 Italian high school students using a selective questionnaire in a cross-sectional study and men with vaccinations were found to have become more pessimistic [ 9 ].…”

“…Previous studies examined impressions of COVID-19 vaccinations mostly using a quantitative method [ 9 - 11 ]. The text mining method, a qualitative method, has been employed to investigate impressions of a number of diseases, including, human papillomavirus [ 12 , 13 ], depression [ 14 ], atopic dermatitis [ 15 ], and many others [ 16 ].…”

The Situation of Students' COVID-19 Vaccination and Their Views on Vaccination: Turkey Case

“…It is seen that the vaccination rate of the students included in our study is higher than in the literature. It is an opinion that this may be due to the widespread use of vaccination throughout the country and the fact that the order of vaccination has decreased over time to the younger age group (12,13). The World Health Organization recommends two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.…”

“…In our study, 72.96% of the students had two vaccine doses. Okamoto et al (13) stated that 77.3% of the participants had one dose, and 76.5% had two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Although this result is compatible with the literature, it can be said that the recommendations of the World Health Organization and the Turkish Ministry of Health are taken into account by the youth in Turkey.…”