Department of Community Health Sciences S113-750 Bannatyne Ave, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W3, Canada.
School of Occupational and Public Health 350 Victoria Street, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.
Vaccine. 2022 Nov 28;40(50):7280-7287. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.10.058. Epub 2022 Oct 31.
Vaccination is an essential public health intervention to control the COVID-19 pandemic. A minority of Canadians, however, remain hesitant about COVID-19 vaccines, while others outright refuse them. We conducted focus groups to gauge perceptions and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines in people who live in a region with historically low rates of childhood vaccination. Participants discussed their perception of COVID-19 vaccines and their intention to get vaccinated, and the low rate of COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Manitoba's Southern Health Region compared to other regions in Canada. We identified three drivers of vaccine hesitancy: (1) risk perceptions about COVID-19 and the vaccines developed to protect against it, (2) religious and conservative views; and (3) distrust in government and science. Participant proposed recommendations for improving communication and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines included: public health messages emphasising the benefits of vaccination; addressing the community's specific concerns and dispelling misinformation; highlighting vaccine safety; and emphasising vaccination as a desirable behaviour from a religious perspective. Understanding the specific anxieties elicited by COVID-19 vaccines in areas with low childhood immunization rates can inform risk communication strategies tailored to increase vaccination in these specific regions. This study adds important information on potential reasons for vaccine hesitancy in areas with historically low rates of childhood vaccination, and provides important lessons learned for future emergencies in terms of vaccine hesitancy drivers and effective risk communication to increase vaccine uptake.
疫苗接种是控制 COVID-19 大流行的重要公共卫生干预措施。然而，少数加拿大人对接种 COVID-19 疫苗犹豫不决，而另一些人则干脆拒绝接种。我们进行了焦点小组讨论，以了解居住在儿童疫苗接种率历来较低地区的人们对 COVID-19 疫苗的看法和态度。参与者讨论了他们对 COVID-19 疫苗的看法以及他们接种疫苗的意愿，以及曼尼托巴省南部卫生区 COVID-19 疫苗接种率与加拿大其他地区相比的低水平。我们确定了疫苗犹豫的三个驱动因素：（1）对 COVID-19 和为预防 COVID-19 而开发的疫苗的风险认知，（2）宗教和保守观点；（3）对政府和科学的不信任。参与者提出了改善 COVID-19 疫苗沟通和接种率的建议，包括：强调接种疫苗的好处的公共卫生信息；解决社区的具体关切和消除错误信息；强调疫苗安全性；并强调从宗教角度来看，接种疫苗是一种理想的行为。了解在儿童免疫接种率历来较低的地区接种 COVID-19 疫苗引起的具体焦虑，可以为这些特定地区增加疫苗接种量的风险沟通策略提供信息。这项研究提供了有关在儿童疫苗接种率历来较低地区疫苗犹豫的潜在原因的重要信息，并就未来紧急情况下的疫苗犹豫驱动因素和增加疫苗接种量的有效风险沟通提供了重要经验教训。
