School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Transplant Proc. 2024 Jul-Aug;56(6):1531-1535. doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2024.05.031. Epub 2024 Aug 3.
Patients listed for solid organ transplants (LSOTP) are at high risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes. Despite national guidelines recommending COVID-19 vaccination for LSOTP, vaccine hesitancy and underuse are reported in this population; however, reasons for this finding have not been examined thoroughly.
This single-center retrospective survey analysis aimed to characterize reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among 110 heart, liver, and kidney patients LSOTP who had not received all the recommended vaccine doses at the time of the study. Survey questions also investigated experiences with influenza vaccination.
Fifty-four patients (49.1%) responded to the telephone survey. The most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy were perceived lack of research in vaccine development (31%), fear of vaccine-related side effects (22%), and belief that the vaccine was unnecessary (20%). Of the respondents, 35% reported changing their vaccine perception after being listed for a transplant, most commonly attributing this to a perception that the COVID-19 vaccine is not safe for transplant recipients (32%). Gender differences in hesitancy reasons were observed, with males more likely to delay vaccination until after transplantation, although this difference was not significant (P = .07). Despite these findings, 54% of all respondents reported receiving annual influenza vaccines consistently.
Despite their risk, patients LSOTP show significant hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccines owing to perceived safety and necessity issues. The results of this study can inform targeted educational efforts to address and rectify misconceptions and concerns about COVID-19 vaccination among patients LSOTP. Future studies focused on larger, more diverse cohorts are needed to expand our understanding of and address vaccination hesitancy among this vulnerable patient population.
接受实体器官移植（LSOTP）的患者有发生严重 COVID-19 后果的高风险。尽管国家指南建议 LSOTP 患者接种 COVID-19 疫苗，但在该人群中报告了疫苗犹豫和使用率低的情况；然而，尚未深入研究这种发现的原因。
这项单中心回顾性调查分析旨在描述 110 名心脏、肝脏和肾脏 LSOTP 患者未接种所有推荐疫苗剂量时对 COVID-19 疫苗犹豫不决的原因。调查问题还调查了流感疫苗接种的经验。
54 名患者（49.1%）对电话调查做出了回应。疫苗犹豫的最常见原因是疫苗开发过程中缺乏研究（31%）、担心疫苗相关副作用（22%）和认为疫苗不必要（20%）。在受访者中，35%的人表示在被列入移植名单后改变了对疫苗的看法，最常见的原因是认为 COVID-19 疫苗对移植受者不安全（32%）。观察到了犹豫原因的性别差异，男性更有可能推迟接种疫苗，直到移植后进行，尽管这一差异无统计学意义（P =.07）。尽管存在这些发现，但所有受访者中有 54%的人始终定期接种季节性流感疫苗。
尽管存在风险，但 LSOTP 患者对 COVID-19 疫苗表现出明显的犹豫，原因是对安全性和必要性问题的看法。本研究的结果可以为针对 LSOTP 患者开展的 COVID-19 疫苗接种提供信息，以解决和纠正他们对 COVID-19 疫苗接种的误解和担忧。需要开展更多以更大、更多样化队列为对象的未来研究，以扩大我们对这一弱势群体疫苗接种犹豫的理解并加以解决。
