Vaccine Hesitancy: The Next Challenge in the Fight Against COVID-19

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy remains a barrier to full population inoculation against highly infectious diseases. With rapid developments in a potential COVID-19 vaccine by scientists across the globe, public concerns over the safety and side effects of such a vaccine may contribute to vaccine hesitancy. We analyzed anonymous questionnaire answers regarding acceptance of a potential COVID-19 vaccine posed to healthcare workers and the general population throughout Israel with a total respondent count of 1941. Our results demonstrate higher rates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among various groups: parents, nurses, and medical workers not caring for SARS-CoV-2 positive patients. Healthcare staff involved in the care of COVID-19 positive patients and individuals who consider themselves at higher risk of disease were more likely to self-report acquiescence to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine if and when it becomes available. Interventional educational campaigns targeted towards populations at risk of vaccine hesitancy, therefore, are urgently needed to combat misinformation and resultant low inoculation rates.

Intention to get vaccinations against COVID-19 in French healthcare workers during the first pandemic wave: a cross-sectional survey

“…Although the association between occupation and intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was independent of age, gender, vaccine hesitancy, and self-perceived risk for COVID -19 infection in this work, the preeminence of women in nurses and assistant nurses occupational categories may contribute to the observed discrepancies. We previously observed that women were less prone to get vaccinated against COVID-19 [17], as was also observed in Israel [18].…”

“…HCWs are probably more prone to get vaccinated against COVID-19 than non-HCWs [18]. The relative high rate of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in HCWsobserved in our study-might be quite artificial as physicians and pharmacists represented a nurses was previously observed in Israel [18]. Differences in vaccine acceptance rates between occupational categories were previously observed for seasonal flu vaccine, nurses are less often vaccine acceptors than physicians [18].…”

“…The relative high rate of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in HCWsobserved in our study-might be quite artificial as physicians and pharmacists represented a nurses was previously observed in Israel [18]. Differences in vaccine acceptance rates between occupational categories were previously observed for seasonal flu vaccine, nurses are less often vaccine acceptors than physicians [18]. This observation could become a concern in healthcare settings as nurses and assistant nurses had more and longer contacts with patients than physicians or pharmacists [19].…”

“…The rate of COVID-19 vaccine acceptors in HCWs is not far from the results in the French general population [15][16][17]. HCWs are probably more prone to get vaccinated against COVID-19 than non-HCWs [18]. The relative high rate of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in HCWsobserved in our study-might be quite artificial as physicians and pharmacists represented a nurses was previously observed in Israel [18].…”

Community Ownership in Primary Health Care—Managing the Intangible

“…Of course, the global health community had to rapidly re-discover the importance of building a response with communities in the Ebola emergency and efforts to eradicate polio. 21 , 22 The current global challenges with vaccine acceptance and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation 23 are also signaling that some form of ownership is required for scale, sustainability, and impact of interventions. Still, we must also acknowledge that many short-term bets can be won with money and energy invested in proximal determinants of health.…”