Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Factors Associated With Complete COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Migrant Origin Persons in Finland

Abstract

Objective: We examined incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 vaccine uptake and factors associated with complete COVID-19 vaccine uptake among persons of migrant origin in Finland.Methods: Data on laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccine doses between March 2020 and November 2021 were linked to FinMonik register sample (n = 13,223) and MigCOVID (n = 3,668) survey data using unique personal identifier. Logistic regression was the main method of analyses.Results: Among FinMonik sample, complete COVID-19 vaccine uptake was lower among persons of Russia/former Soviet Union, Estonia, and rest of Africa and higher among persons of Southeast Asia, rest of Asia, and the Middle East/North Africa than among persons originating from Europe/North America/Oceania. Male sex, younger age, migration age (<18 years) and shorter length of residence were associated with lower vaccine uptake among FinMonik sample, whereas younger age, being economically inactive, poorer language skills, experiences of discrimination and psychological distress were associated with lower vaccine uptake among MigCOVID sub-sample.Conclusion: Our Findings point to a further need of tailored and targeted communication and community outreach strategies to increase vaccine uptake among persons of migrant origin.

COVID-19 Vaccination and Predictive Factors in Immigrants to Europe: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The first determinant variable was sex. In contrast to the findings of Gram et al [21] (similar vaccination coverage between sexes), Bastola et al [18] (lower vaccine uptake in males from the total sample), and Page et al [28] (increased female willingness to be vaccinated), female immigrants were generally more hesitant and/or opposed to vaccination than male immigrants [16,19,22,25,27,29,30]. We believe that this female attitude may be influenced by a greater attachment to the culture of the country of origin, and, consequently, immigrant women have a greater fear/suspicion of accepting directions from the institution in the host country.…”

“…Another important factor in vaccine willingness is age. According to the results reported in this systematic review, lower vaccine uptake is generally associated with younger ages while willingness increases with increasing age [16][17][18]21,22,28,30], except for two studies that show different trends (decreased willingness to vaccinate at ages >50 years old [27] and in age groups 50-59 and >70 [29]). In general, the influence of the age factor on vaccination may have been conditioned by awareness of the serious outcomes of the disease for the elderly [46].…”

“…Finally, lower willingness to vaccinate was found to be associated with a lower level of education and income, mistrust in the authorities and health-care system, weak health literacy, absence of chronic comorbidities, poor perception of the benefits associated with vaccination, a short period of residence in the host country, poor language skills, discrimination experiences, and mental distress [17][18][19][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]30]. In the general population, the short period between the production of the new vaccines and the authorization to administer them after a short testing period was certainly also an additional factor that may have induced hesitation in vaccination [50].…”

“…Specifically, five of these were carried out in Norway, two each in France, Germany, and Italy, one each in Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Turkey, and one multicentric study in Switzerland, France, and Italy. Three studies (19%) were published in 2021 [23,25,29], four (25%) in 2023 [16,18,21,30], and the remaining nine studies (56%) in 2022 [17,[19][20][21][22]24,[26][27][28]. The earliest data collection was compiled in the period May 2020-June 2020 in Longchamps' study [25], which investigated the hesitancy to vaccinate, as the COVID-19 vaccine was not yet available; the latest one was compiled on COVID-19 vaccination status in February, March, and May 2022 by Aysit et al [16].…”

“…Ten studies aimed at vaccine uptake in immigrants (and in the host population, if investigated) [16][17][18][19][20][21]23,27,29,31], three studies aimed at the vaccine hesitancy [25,28,30], one study the attitude to vaccinate [24], one other [22] the vaccine intention, and the last remaining [26] the information access to preventive measures against COVID-19.…”