The way forward to achieve high COVID-19 vaccination and revaccination coverage in a city amid a period of tranquility

Abstract

BackgroundAmid the current COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need for both vaccination and revaccination (“boosting”). This study aims to identify factors associated with the intention to receive a booster dose of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine among individuals vaccinated with two doses and characterize their profiles in Hong Kong, a city with a low COVID-19 incidence in the initial epidemic waves. Among the unvaccinated, vaccination intention is also explored and their profiles are investigated.MethodsFrom December 2021 - January 2022, an online survey was employed to recruit 856 Hong Kong residents aged 18 years or over from an established population-based cohort. Latent class analysis and multivariate logistic regression modeling approaches were used to characterize boosting intentions.ResultsOf 638 (74.5%) vaccinated among 856 eligible subjects, 42.2% intended to receive the booster dose. Four distinct profiles emerged with believers having the highest intention, followed by apathetics, fence-sitters and skeptics. Believers were older and more likely to have been vaccinated against influenza. Older age, smoking, experiencing no adverse effects from a previous COVID-19 vaccination, greater confidence in vaccines and collective responsibility, and fewer barriers in accessing vaccination services were associated with higher intentions to receive the booster dose. Of 218 unvaccinated, most were fence-sitters followed by apathetics, skeptics, and believers.ConclusionThis study foretells the booster intended uptake lagging initial vaccination across different age groups and can help refine the current or future booster vaccination campaign. Given the fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose may be offered to all adults, strategies for improving boosting uptake include policies targeting young adults, individuals who experienced adverse effects from previous doses, fence-sitters, apathetics, and the general public with low trust in the health authorities.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Italian Healthcare Workers: Latent Profiles and Their Relationships to Predictors and Outcome

“…Taking a person-centered approach, we empirically identified four different profiles of HCWs based on their scores in 5Cs measure [ 14 ]. The majority of our population of HCWs falls into the believer profile, converging with results from previous research, defined by the highest levels of confidence and collective responsibility, and lowest levels in complacency and constraints [ 23 , 25 , 27 ]. Furthermore, in line with Zhang and colleagues [ 25 ], in our study, calculation was slightly below average levels, and it was the profile with the lowest levels of calculation.…”

“…In another similar study performed using the same 5C framework in the same working population (nurses), Leung and colleagues identified five latent profiles of hesitant: believers (high confidence, collective responsibility; low complacency, constraint), skeptics (opposite to the believers), outsiders (low calculation, collective responsibility), contradictors (high in all 5C constructs), and middlers (average levels in all 5C factors) [ 23 ]. In line with these results, Kwok and colleagues identified four latent profiles: believers (high confidence, high collective responsibility, low complacency, and low constraint), fence-sitters (average scores in all 5C factors), apathetics (low in calculation, high in complacency, and high constraint), and skeptics (low confidence, low collective responsibility, high complacency, and high constraint) [ 27 ].…”

“…In this sense, they are not believers but nor clearly hesitants. According to Kwok and colleagues [ 27 ], those HCWs are neutral in their vaccination attitudes. Considering our results, probably, they search for information about the vaccine, developing an average confidence towards the vaccine and sense of collective responsibility.…”

“…Vaccine Conspiracy Belief Scale (VCBS) [ 27 ]. The VCBS was used to measure conspiracy belief and includes seven items (ω = 0.971).…”

The impact of trust in government on pandemic management on the compliance with voluntary COVID-19 vaccination policy among adolescents after social unrest in Hong Kong

“…Apart from factors such as worries about COVID-19 infection and vaccination, physical fitness, social deprivation, and sense of belonging at school and the community ( 10 , 11 ), their attitude toward the government was also found as a key factor to the compliance with vaccination and other COVID-19 containment measures imposed by the government in the literature ( 12 ). In general, the higher the level of trust, the greater the willingness and intention of vaccination would be ( 13 – 17 ). Nonetheless, previous cross-country research showed that younger people tend to have lower trust in their governments ( 18 ).…”