COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance, Hesitancy, and Resistancy among University Students in France

Abstract

The objectives were to explore, among university students, the level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, hesitancy, and resistancy and to determine the motivations and barriers, and the reasons that may change student vaccination decision making. An online observational cross-sectional study was conducted among students of a French university in January 2021 with questions about the intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the motivations and the barriers. The convenience sample included 3089 students, with a mean of age of 20.3 (SD = 1.9). To the question on the intention to vaccinate against the COVID-19, 58.0% of students reported that they would choose to have a vaccination, 17.0% reported that they would not and 25.0% were not sure. The main motivations for vaccine acceptance were “I don′t want to transmit COVID-19 to others”, the main barriers for vaccine resistance or hesitancy were “I prefer to wait until I have more experience with these new vaccines”. Age, female gender, being in first three years of study, studied sciences courses and neither sciences nor healthcare courses of study were significantly associated with a higher risk of vaccine hesitancy or resistancy. Self-estimated knowledge of conventional vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines, and confidence in efficiency and safety of conventional vaccination were associated with a lower risk of vaccine hesitancy or resistancy. It is relevant to disseminate evidence-based interventions to promote COVID-19 vaccine acceptability for college students, especially for the students in neither sciences nor healthcare courses of study, as college students will soon be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Prevalence and Drivers of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Czech University Students: National Cross-Sectional Study

“…= 0.02) [4]. The same finding was reported by Patelarou et al 2021 in seven European countries, Tavolacci et al 2021 in France, and Sallam et al 2021 in Jordan [48,50,53]. Interestingly, the acceptance levels were not different between our female and male students, consistent with what was reported recently among medical students in Slovakia and dental students globally [4,54].…”

Factors Affecting Hesitancy to mRNA and Viral Vector COVID-19 Vaccines among College Students in Italy

“…Prior research has offered varying estimates of vaccine hesitancy across countries [ 6 , 8 ]. Our findings on vaccine hesitancy for the viral vector COVID-19 (42.6% for both VH and VR) vaccines substantially align with other estimates reported in previous studies among college students from European regions (Tavolacci et al [ 39 ] reported that 42% of French university students were vaccine-hesitant or -resistant), and US (in the study by Sharma et al [ 19 ], 47.5% of participants reported hesitancy to receive the COVID-19 vaccine), which assessed vaccine hesitancy without differentiating for the vaccine typology. Almost the same percentage was also found in Italian adult population [ 40 ] (a total of 42.0% for VH and VR) as well as in other European countries [ 41 ].…”

“…However, our findings about viral vector vaccine hesitancy/resistance are higher than those of Barello et al [ 42 ] who reported 13.9% of Italian university students expressing they would not or be not sure to vaccine (low intention to be vaccinated). Moreover, our findings on vaccine hesitancy (8.2% for both VH and VR) for the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were lower than those reported by previous studies [ 19 , 39 ], but aligned with the estimates reported by Graupensperger et al [ 43 ] who found a higher percentage (91.64%) of college students from the US who reported intentions to get a COVID vaccine. The present study adds substantial evidence that the unwillingness to take a vaccine is not generic, but it is conditional on the specific vaccine typology, and could explain differences in VH rates in specific populations, such as college students and young adults.…”

“…At this stage of the vaccination campaign, identifying factors associated with vaccine hesitancy and resistance among young adults is an important research effort, in order to inform community-led communication strategies (such as educational campaigns, research studies, and multidisciplinary approaches which involve peers, students’ organizations, or community leaders) to optimize COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Tailored educational interventions for college students aimed to improve their attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines and avoid misinformation should be implemented [ 39 ], alongside public health campaigns. These education messages should also take into account differences in rate of vaccine hesitancy with respect to the vaccine type.…”

Intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 among nursing students: A cross-sectional survey

“…Numerous studies have investigated the COVID-19 vaccination intention among different populations ( Sallam, 2021 ; Tavolacci et al, 2021 ). A systematic review of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates worldwide included 60 surveys from 33 different countries ( Sallam, 2021 ).…”