School of Population Medicine and Public Health, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
School of Nursing, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong, China.
BMC Infect Dis. 2022 Feb 14;22(1):153. doi: 10.1186/s12879-022-07111-0.
COVID-19 vaccine has been available in China since the beginning of the 2021, however, certain numbers of people are reluctant for some reasons to vaccinate. The high vaccine coverage is crucial for controlling disease transmission, however, the vaccine hesitancy might be a barrier to the establishment of sufficient herd immunization. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among different population groups, and explore common barriers and facilitators to vaccination decisions.
The current survey was performed among Chinese students, public health professionals, medical workers and general population from January to March 2021 from seven cities in China. The questionnaire contained sociodemographic information, concerns about infection with COVID-19, general vaccination behaviors and attitudes, the General Vaccine Hesitancy Scale, the COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Scale and other potential factors. Univariate analysis was conducted by chi-squared test, and variables significant at P < 0.10 were then included in a multivariable regression model.
The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was 15.6% in our study, and 23.9% of students, 21.2% of the general population, 13.1% of medical workers, and 10.4% of public health professionals had vaccine hesitancy. The results of multivariate analysis indicated that participants who had received negative information of COVID-19 vaccine (OR: 1.563, 95% CI: 1.229-1.986) and who had doubts about the information source (OR: 2.157, 95% CI: 1.697-2.742) were more likely to have vaccine hesitancy. While those who needed transparent information about COVID-19 vaccine (OR: 0.722, 95% CI: 0.535-0.973) and who would get COVID-19 vaccine if doctors recommended (OR: 0.176, 95% CI: 0.132-0.234) were less likely to have COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
Given recommendations from medical workers about vaccination can motivate people to accept COVID-19 vaccination, appropriate training in knowledge about vaccines and communication skills are necessary for them to increase public's willingness of vaccination. Reducing the spread of misinformation and disseminating facts in a timely and accurate way will likely reduce vaccine hesitancy. Moreover, to establish suitable communication strategies and information exchange platforms between the government and the public and a warning system on infodemic would be helpful to improve public's confidence in vaccination.
自 2021 年初以来，中国已经有了 COVID-19 疫苗，但由于某些原因，仍有一定数量的人不愿意接种疫苗。高疫苗接种率对于控制疾病传播至关重要，然而，疫苗犹豫可能是建立足够群体免疫的障碍。本研究旨在调查不同人群中 COVID-19 疫苗犹豫的流行情况，并探讨接种决策的常见障碍和促进因素。
本研究于 2021 年 1 月至 3 月期间在中国七个城市的中国学生、公共卫生专业人员、医务人员和普通人群中进行。问卷包含社会人口学信息、对 COVID-19 感染的担忧、一般疫苗接种行为和态度、一般疫苗犹豫量表、COVID-19 疫苗犹豫量表以及其他潜在因素。采用卡方检验进行单因素分析，然后将 P 值<0.10 的变量纳入多变量回归模型。
在我们的研究中，COVID-19 疫苗犹豫的流行率为 15.6%，其中 23.9%的学生、21.2%的普通人群、13.1%的医务人员和 10.4%的公共卫生专业人员有疫苗犹豫。多因素分析的结果表明，那些接受过 COVID-19 疫苗负面信息（OR：1.563，95%CI：1.229-1.986）和对信息来源有疑虑的参与者（OR：2.157，95%CI：1.697-2.742）更有可能有疫苗犹豫。而那些需要 COVID-19 疫苗透明信息（OR：0.722，95%CI：0.535-0.973）和如果医生建议就会接种 COVID-19 疫苗的人（OR：0.176，95%CI：0.132-0.234）不太可能有 COVID-19 疫苗犹豫。
鉴于医务人员对接种疫苗的建议可以促使人们接受 COVID-19 疫苗接种，因此他们需要适当的疫苗知识培训和沟通技巧培训，以提高公众的接种意愿。减少错误信息的传播，并及时、准确地传播事实，可能会降低疫苗犹豫。此外，建立政府与公众之间的适当沟通策略和信息交流平台以及传染病预警系统将有助于提高公众对疫苗接种的信心。
