Nova Southeastern University, College of Dental Medicine and College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA.
J Dent Educ. 2021 Sep;85(9):1504-1510. doi: 10.1002/jdd.12632. Epub 2021 Apr 29.
Dentists are a group of providers who have been identified by CDC at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 through their contact with patients. This would apply to dental students as well. Thus, it is important to achieve high COVID-19 vaccination rates in this group. Further, as healthcare providers, they are entrusted with providing health recommendations and advocating for their patients, community, and profession, including vaccinations.
Using ualtrics an online platform, in 2020, a survey was administered anonymously to dental students at three dental schools to assess the attitudes of dental students to the novel COVID-19 vaccine. Factors and reasons associated with vaccine hesitancy and acceptance toward the COVID-19 vaccine and likelihood of recommending and giving the vaccination to patients were assessed.
Nearly, all participants had positive attitudes toward vaccines in general, agreed they would likely be exposed to COVID-19, and personally knew someone who had COVID-19; however, only 56% are willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as an FDA-approved vaccine was available. Of those unwilling to take the vaccine, 63% reported they would take it if mandated by the health systems/dental school; however, 16.3% of the overall respondents would not take the COVID-19 vaccine even if mandated. Several factors are associated with vaccine acceptance and the likelihood of recommending the vaccination, such as trusting public health experts, concerns about side effects, and agreeing with vaccine mandates.
Our results highlight the need for an educational curriculum about the safety and effectiveness to promote the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine.
根据疾病预防控制中心（CDC）的定义，牙医与患者接触密切，感染 COVID-19 的风险较高。这同样适用于牙科学生。因此，在这一群体中实现高 COVID-19 疫苗接种率非常重要。此外，作为医疗保健提供者，他们有责任为患者、社区和专业人员提供健康建议和宣传，包括接种疫苗。
2020 年，使用在线平台 ualtrics，向三所牙科学校的牙科学生匿名进行了一项调查，以评估牙科学生对新型 COVID-19 疫苗的态度。评估了对 COVID-19 疫苗的犹豫和接受程度、疫苗接种的推荐意愿以及与疫苗接种相关的因素和原因。
几乎所有参与者对一般疫苗都持积极态度，他们都同意自己可能会接触到 COVID-19，并且个人认识患有 COVID-19 的人；然而，只有 56%的人愿意在获得 FDA 批准的疫苗后立即接种 COVID-19 疫苗。在那些不愿意接种疫苗的人中，有 63%的人表示，如果卫生系统/牙科学校要求，他们会接种；然而，总体而言，有 16.3%的受访者即使被强制接种也不会接种 COVID-19 疫苗。疫苗接受度和推荐疫苗接种的可能性与一些因素相关，例如信任公共卫生专家、对副作用的担忧以及对疫苗接种授权的认同。
我们的研究结果强调了需要开展关于 COVID-19 疫苗安全性和有效性的教育课程，以促进疫苗接种。
