COVID-19 Vaccination Willingness and Vaccine Uptake among Healthcare Workers: A Single-Center Experience

Abstract

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at higher risk of developing COVID-19 due to their professional exposition to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This study assesses the intention of vaccination against COVID-19 before the vaccines were approved, and the rate of vaccine uptake during the first nine months of immunization among HCWs. A cross-sectional seroprevalence study was carried out during July 2020 in University Clinical Hospital Center Bezanijska Kosa in Belgrade, Serbia that included 62.8% of all HCWs. Besides serological testing for IgG antibodies, data about HCWs’ intention to accept COVID-19 vaccination if a vaccine became available were collected. This cohort of HCWs was followed up until the end of October 2021 to assess the number of vaccinated and PCR-positive staff. In the cross-sectional study, 18.3% HCWs had positive SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies without difference with IgG-negative HCWs regarding age, gender, profession type, and years of service. Before vaccines became available, a significantly higher percentage of IgG-positive HCWs compared to IgG-negative HCWs was unsure whether to be vaccinated (62.5% vs. 49.0%), and significantly fewer stated that they would not be vaccinated (16.7% vs. 25.1%). When the vaccines became available in Serbia, among IgG-negative HCWs, those who stated clear positive (yes) and clear negative (no) attitude toward vaccination before the immunization period had begun were vaccinated at 28% and 20%, respectively, while 51% of unsure HCWs received a vaccine (p = 0.006). Among IgG-positive HCWs, there was no statistical difference in vaccine uptake regarding those with previous negative, positive, and unsure opinions about vaccination (p = 0.498). In multivariate analysis, independent factors associated with uptake were being female (OR = 1.92; 95%CI: 1.04–3.55), age of 30–59 years, previously vaccine-unsure (OR = 1.84; 95%CI: 1.04–3.25), and those with previous positive vaccine attitudes (OR = 2.48; 95%CI:1.23–5.01), while nurses were less likely to become vaccinated (OR = 0.39 95% CI: 0.20–0.75) These findings indicate a positive change in attitudes of HCWs towards COVID-19 vaccination.

COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…We assessed the full texts of 36 articles, and we excluded 11 applying our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, we included 25 studies in our systematic review and meta-analysis [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. The flow diagram according to PRISMA guidelines is shown in Figure 1 .…”

“…Main characteristics of the studies included in our review are presented in Table S1 . We found 25 studies including 491,624 vaccinated HCWs, while the full sample included 555,561 HCWs, ranging from 172 to 356,053 [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. The mean percentage of females was 67.3% (standard deviation = 19.9), and the mean age of the full sample was 39.2 years (standard deviation = 6.2).…”

“…Twenty-one studies investigated predictors of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among HCWs [ 32 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. Detailed results of the predictors are presented in Table 1 and Table 2 .…”

“… Forest plot of healthcare workers vaccinated against COVID-19 [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. …”

Decisions to Choose COVID-19 Vaccination by Health Care Workers in a Southern California Safety Net Medical Center Vary by Sociodemographic Factors

“…COVID-19 vaccination acceptance has also varied by occupation. Multiple studies have identified greater vaccine hesitancy in nurses, and higher rates of vaccine acceptance are seen in physicians [20][21][22]. These limited and contradictory findings further strengthen the need for additional studies to define how sociodemographic characteristics affect COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among HCWs.…”