COVID-19 Vaccine Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in Alabama: The Case for Primary Health Care Providers.

OBJECTIVE

To examine knowledge, attitudes, and practices about COVID-19 in Alabama, with a primary focus on vaccination perception and utilization.

DESIGN

We used a COVID-19 Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices survey and recruited adult Alabama residents in April-May 2021.

PARTICIPANTS

Initial surveys from 1324 Alabamian participants were considered for analysis; after careful review of incomplete responses, 953 were ultimately included for analysis.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Vaccine behavior and hesitancy comprise a self-reported response contained in the survey instrument. Three primary vaccine groups were used to assess differences in demographic characteristics, health status, perception of susceptibility and severity of COVID-19, sources of information, and trust about COVID-19.

RESULTS

Of the 953 survey participants included for analysis, 951 had self-identified vaccine status in which 153 (16.1%) reported to have received the vaccine at the time of the survey, 375 (39.4%) were very likely or somewhat likely to get an approved COVID-19 vaccine if it was offered, and 423 (44.5%) were somewhat unlikely or very unlikely to get an approved COVID-19 vaccine. Health care providers were the most trusted sources of information, regardless of vaccine status. For participants unlikely to receive a vaccine, social media and local news sources were consistently more trusted and utilized than those who were vaccinated or were likely to be.

CONCLUSIONS

The perceptions among unvaccinated participants are actionable and provide teachable opportunities to decrease vaccine apprehension.