Healthcare workers’ attitudes on mandates, incentives, and strategies to improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake: A mixed methods study

Abstract

Healthcare workers are a trusted health information source and are uniquely positioned to reduce the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this sequential exploratory mixed methods study was to understand attitudes of healthcare workers working in Massachusetts during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding strategies to improve COVID-19 vaccine utilization, including vaccine mandates and incentives. Fifty-two individuals completed one-on-one interviews between April 22 nd and September 7th, 2021. The survey was developed based on findings from the interviews; 209 individuals completed the online survey between February 17 th and March 23 rd , 2022. Both the interview and survey asked about attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccine and booster mandates, incentives, and strategies to improve vaccination rates. Most participants were female (79%-interview, 81%-survey), Caucasian (56%, 73%), and worked as physicians (37%, 34%) or nurses (10%, 18%). Overall, nuanced attitudes regarding vaccine and booster mandates were expressed; many supported mandates to protect their patients’ health, others emphasized personal autonomy, while some were against mandates if job termination was the consequence of declining vaccines. Similarly, views regarding vaccine incentives differed; some considered incentives helpful, yet many viewed them as coercive. Strategies believed to be most effective to encourage vaccination included improving accessibility to vaccination sites, addressing misinformation, discussing vaccine safety, tailored community outreach via trusted messengers, and one-on-one conversations between patients and healthcare workers. Healthcare workers’ experiences with strategies to improve utilization of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters have implications for public health policies. Generally, efforts to improve access and education were viewed more favorably than incentives and mandates.

Healthcare Workers’ Attitudes towards Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The last three studies from Europe (UK, Poland, and the Czech Republic) showed conflicting results regarding HCWs' acceptance of vaccine mandates for HCWs (acceptance rates: 6-75%) [37,40,57]. A generally supportive attitude was reported in a series of seven studies from the US, while data from two Australian studies revealed that Australian HCWs were divided about accepting COVID-19 vaccine mandates for HCWs [44][45][46][58][59][60][61][62][63]. In three studies (one from India, one from Mongolia, and one from Pakistan), most participants were in favor of vaccine mandates for COVID-19, while in another study from India, 60% of participants were against them [64][65][66][67].…”