COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among French People Living with HIV

Abstract

People living with HIV are a high-risk population concerning the coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) infection, with a poorer prognosis. It is important to achieve high COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates in this group as soon as possible. This project used self-reporting to assess vaccine hesitancy and acceptance among people living with HIV towards the novel COVID-19 vaccine. Sixty-eight (28.7%) participants among the 237 declared their hesitancy to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Participants who expressed concerns about their health (p < 0.001), the requirement of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination (p = 0.017), and their chronic disease status (p = 0.026) were independently associated with the acceptance of vaccination. Conversely, participants presenting general vaccine refusal (p < 0.001), concerns about the serious side effects of COVID-19 vaccines (p < 0.001), and those already thinking having an immune status to COVID-19 (p = 0.008) were independently associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Our results suggest that vaccine strategy would be more successful in France with a communication strategy emphasizing the collective benefits of herd immunity in the population living with HIV and reassuring patients with chronic diseases about the safety of the proposed vaccines.

Understanding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance: another challenge in cancer patients

“…Several vaccine resistance factors reported in our study are already known from previous studies in the general population, such as age and gender [ 8 ], trust in government decisions [ 12 ], safety concerns. Conversely, we did not observe an impact of educational level [ 16 ], influenza vaccine history [ 8 , 17 ], knowing people who died from COVID-19 [ 18 ], and perceiving COVID-19 as a threat to self [ 19 ].…”

Prevention and Treatment of SARS-CoV2 Infection in People Living with HIV: The Need for Specific Data

“…Reasons listed for vaccine hesitancy included general vaccine refusal, fear of adverse reactions, and assumed COVID-19 immunity. Those in favour expressed concerns about their health—including chronic disease—as reasons for vaccine acceptability [ 13 – 16 ].…”

COVID-19 Vaccinations: A Comprehensive Review of Their Safety and Efficacy in Special Populations

“…The progress of clinical trials has been accelerating globally to test the protective efficacy of different vaccines [6]. However, there remains a great hesitancy to receive the vaccines due to various reasons, such as fear of the side effects of the vaccination, especially in subjects with underlying co-morbidities [7]. The hesitancy rate of vaccination was found to be 19% in the United States [8], 35% in Ireland, and 31% in the United Kingdom [9].…”