Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany.
Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Medicine, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany.
Front Public Health. 2022 Apr 7;10:846861. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.846861. eCollection 2022.
COVID-19 booster hesitancy (VBH) is a serious public health challenge which acts simultaneously with the waning vaccine-elicited immunity and the emerging viral variants to prolong the pandemic interval. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-19 VBH among a highly educated subset of the German population and to explore the potential demographic, anamnestic, and psychosocial determinants of this problem. A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted in December 2021 among German university students and employees to evaluate their attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccine booster (VB) doses. The study used a self-administered questionnaire that was developed and disseminated digitally, and the questionnaire inquired about participants' demographic characteristics, COVID-19-related anamnesis, COVID-19 vaccine-related anamnesis, and psychosocial predictors of COVID-19 VBH. A total of 930 participants were recruited, of which 608 (65.4%) were students, 682 (73.3%) were females, and their mean age was 29.08 ± 10.93 years. Fifty-five participants (5.9%) had been previously infected by COVID-19 and the vast majority of infections happened before the first vaccine dose. Over 95% of the participants had received at least one vaccine dose, and the most commonly administered vaccine was BNT162b2. The overall COVID-19 VB acceptance was satisfactory (87.8%) and induced by various altruistic promoters, e.g., family health protection, community health protection, and patients' health protection. The students (86.3%), the previously infected participants (76.4%), the participants who did not receive primer doses of COVID-19 vaccines (2.5 %), and those who were hospitalized (40%) and sought medical care/treatment after receiving primer doses (86.8%) were less likely to accept COVID-19 VB compared to the employees (90.7%), the participants who were not previously infected (88.6%) and those who received primer dose (91.7%), and the participants who were not hospitalized (92%) nor sought medical care/treatment after primer doses (92.9%), respectively. The perceived effectiveness of COVID-19 VB against severe illness (adjusted odds ratio "AOR": 47.65-95% confidence interval "CI": 23.65-96.49), symptomatic infection (AOR: 9.87-95% CI: 5.20-18.71), community transmission (AOR: 5.34-95% CI: 3.00-9.49) and emerging variants (AOR: 19.12-95% CI: 10.57-34.55) were key predictors for COVID-19 VB acceptance; therefore, it needs to be highlighted in vaccine messaging. In addition, the perceived safety of COVID-19 VB and ethical dilemmas of vaccine justice need to be addressed publicly.
COVID-19 加强针犹豫（VBH）是一个严重的公共卫生挑战，它与疫苗诱导的免疫力下降和新出现的病毒变体同时存在，延长了大流行时间。因此，本研究旨在评估德国高度受教育人群中 COVID-19 VBH 的流行率，并探讨这一问题的潜在人口统计学、病史和社会心理决定因素。2021 年 12 月，我们在德国大学生和员工中进行了一项基于横断面调查的研究，以评估他们对 COVID-19 疫苗加强（VB）剂量的态度。该研究使用了自行设计和数字分发的问卷，问卷询问了参与者的人口统计学特征、COVID-19 相关病史、COVID-19 疫苗相关病史以及 COVID-19 VBH 的社会心理预测因素。共招募了 930 名参与者，其中 608 名（65.4%）为学生，682 名（73.3%）为女性，平均年龄为 29.08±10.93 岁。55 名参与者（5.9%）曾感染过 COVID-19，绝大多数感染发生在第一剂疫苗之前。超过 95%的参与者至少接种了一剂疫苗，最常用的疫苗是 BNT162b2。总体而言，COVID-19 VB 接受率令人满意（87.8%），并受到各种利他主义促进因素的影响，例如家庭健康保护、社区健康保护和患者健康保护。与员工（90.7%）相比，学生（86.3%）、以前感染过的参与者（76.4%）、未接种 COVID-19 疫苗初级剂量的参与者（2.5%）、住院（40%）和接种初级剂量后寻求医疗/治疗的参与者（86.8%）不太可能接受 COVID-19 VB。与员工（90.7%）相比，以前未感染过的参与者（88.6%）和接种过初级剂量的参与者（91.7%）、未住院（92%）和接种初级剂量后未寻求医疗/治疗的参与者（92.9%），他们认为 COVID-19 VB 对严重疾病（调整后的优势比“OR”：47.65-95%置信区间“CI”：23.65-96.49）、有症状感染（OR：9.87-95% CI：5.20-18.71）、社区传播（OR：5.34-95% CI：3.00-9.49）和新出现的变异体（OR：19.12-95% CI：10.57-34.55）的有效性感知是 COVID-19 VB 接受的关键预测因素；因此，在疫苗宣传中需要强调这一点。此外，需要公开解决 COVID-19 VB 的安全性感知和疫苗公平性的伦理问题。
