Zohoori Namvar, Barsotti Tara, Porter Austin, Brown Clare, Amick Benjamin C, Cima Mike, Gandy Jay, Markham Maria
Faye W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
Arkansas Department of Health, Little Rock, AR, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2023 Aug 23:333549231192464. doi: 10.1177/00333549231192464.
Disparities in COVID-19 vaccine coverage among college students are not well studied. We analyzed the extent of COVID-19 vaccination among all students at public institutions of higher education in Arkansas in spring and fall 2021 and examined factors associated with vaccination rates.
We matched student enrollment data for the spring and fall 2021 semesters separately with immunization registry data to determine the COVID-19 vaccination status of students in each semester. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine variables associated with being fully vaccinated.
Overall, by the end of the fall 2021 semester, 49.1% of students were fully vaccinated, compared with 52.3% of students at the end of the spring 2021 semester. However, we observed important differences between student groups. Students who were in rural areas (vs urban areas), freshman (vs all other class years), at a 2-year college (vs 4-year college), non-Hispanic Black (vs Hispanic or non-Hispanic White), or in a nonhealth major (vs health major) were less likely to be fully vaccinated.
Given the disparities in COVID-19 vaccine coverage among college students, continued efforts are needed in this young, but important, population segment to address students' confidence in vaccines and to make vaccines more available and accessible on and near campuses. Novel approaches for tailored messaging and interventions to facilitate vaccine uptake may be needed for groups such as non-Hispanic Black students and students in rural areas who are less likely, compared with their counterparts, to accept COVID-19 vaccines.
新冠病毒疫苗在大学生中的接种覆盖率差异尚未得到充分研究。我们分析了2021年春季和秋季阿肯色州公立高等教育机构所有学生的新冠病毒疫苗接种情况，并研究了与接种率相关的因素。
我们分别将2021年春季和秋季学期的学生注册数据与免疫登记数据进行匹配，以确定每个学期学生的新冠病毒疫苗接种状况。我们使用多变量逻辑回归来确定与完全接种疫苗相关的变量。
总体而言，到2021年秋季学期末，49.1%的学生已完全接种疫苗，而2021年春季学期末这一比例为52.3%。然而，我们观察到不同学生群体之间存在重要差异。来自农村地区（相对于城市地区）、大一新生（相对于其他所有年级）、两年制学院（相对于四年制学院）、非西班牙裔黑人（相对于西班牙裔或非西班牙裔白人）或非健康专业（相对于健康专业）的学生完全接种疫苗的可能性较小。
鉴于大学生在新冠病毒疫苗接种覆盖率方面存在差异，对于这个年轻但重要的人群，仍需继续努力，以解决学生对疫苗的信心问题，并在校园内及校园附近使疫苗更易获取。对于非西班牙裔黑人学生和农村地区学生等与同龄人相比接受新冠病毒疫苗可能性较小的群体，可能需要采用新颖的针对性宣传和干预方法来促进疫苗接种。
