School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2022 Nov-Dec;137(6):1066-1069. doi: 10.1177/00333549221120241. Epub 2022 Sep 16.
Many syringe services programs (SSPs) have established trusting, long-term relationships with their clients and are well situated to provide COVID-19 vaccinations. We examined characteristics and practices of SSPs in the United States that reported providing COVID-19 vaccinations to their clients and obstacles to vaccinating people who inject drugs (PWID). We surveyed SSPs in September 2021 to examine COVID-19 vaccination practices through a supplement to the 2020 Dave Purchase Memorial survey. Of 153 SSPs surveyed, 73 (47.7%) responded to the supplement; 24 of 73 (32.9%) reported providing on-site COVID-19 vaccinations. Having provided hepatitis and influenza vaccinations was significantly associated with providing COVID-19 vaccinations (70.8% had provided them vs 28.6% had not; = .002). Obstacles to providing vaccination included lack of appropriate facilities, lack of funding, lack of trained staff, and vaccine hesitancy among PWID. SSPs are underused as vaccination providers. Many SSPs are well situated to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to PWID, and greater use of SSPs as vaccination providers is needed.
许多注射器服务项目 (SSP) 与客户建立了信任、长期的关系,并且非常适合提供 COVID-19 疫苗接种。我们研究了美国报告向其客户提供 COVID-19 疫苗接种的 SSP 的特征和做法,以及为注射毒品者 (PWID) 接种疫苗的障碍。我们在 2021 年 9 月通过对 2020 年 Dave Purchase Memorial 调查的补充对 SSP 进行了调查,以检查 COVID-19 疫苗接种情况。在接受调查的 153 个 SSP 中,有 73 个(47.7%)对补充调查做出了回应;73 个中的 24 个(32.9%)报告提供了现场 COVID-19 疫苗接种。提供肝炎和流感疫苗接种与提供 COVID-19 疫苗接种显著相关(提供疫苗接种的比例为 70.8%,未提供的比例为 28.6%; =.002)。提供疫苗接种的障碍包括缺乏适当的设施、缺乏资金、缺乏训练有素的工作人员以及 PWID 对疫苗的犹豫。SSP 作为疫苗接种提供者的使用率较低。许多 SSP 非常适合为 PWID 提供 COVID-19 疫苗接种,需要更多地利用 SSP 作为疫苗接种提供者。