Abstract
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy threatens pandemic control efforts. We evaluated vaccine hesitancy in the US by employment status and occupation category during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. US adults 18–64 years completed an online COVID-19 survey 3,179,174 times from January 6-May 19, 2021. Data was aggregated by month. Survey weights matched the sample to the US population age, gender, and state profile. Weighted percentages and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Changes in vaccine hesitancy from January-May varied widely by employment status (e.g., −7.8% [95%CI, −8.2 – −7.5] among those working outside the home, a 26.6% decrease; −13.3% [95%CI, −13.7 – −13.0] among those not working for pay, a 44.9% decrease), and occupation category (e.g., −15.9% [95%CI, −17.7 – −14.2] in production, a 39.3% decrease; −1.4% [95%CI, −3.8 – −1.0] in construction/extraction, a 3.0% decrease). April 20-May 19, 2021, vaccine hesitancy ranged from 7.3% (95%CI, 6.7 – 7.8) in computer/mathematical professions to 45.2% (95%CI, 43.2–46.8) in construction/extraction. Hesitancy was 9.0% (95%CI, 8.6–9.3) among educators and 14.5% (95%CI, 14.0–15.0) among healthcare practitioners/technicians. While the prevalence of reasons for hesitancy differed by occupation, over half of employed hesitant participants reported concern about side effects (51.7%) and not trusting COVID-19 vaccines (51.3%), whereas only 15.0% didn’t like vaccines in general. Over a third didn’t believe they needed the vaccine, didn’t trust the government, and/or were waiting to see if it was safe. In this massive national survey of adults 18–64 years, vaccine hesitancy varied widely by occupation. Reasons for hesitancy indicate messaging about safety and addressing trust are paramount.
Highlights
The development of highly efficacious COVID-19 vaccines in less than one year is a major medical accomplishment of the last century
Adults ≥ 60 years had a larger decrease in COVID-19 vaccine hesi tancy versus younger adults October 2020-March 2021 (Daly et al, 2021), and, consistent with previous reports (Daly et al, 2021; Khub chandani et al, 2021; Malik et al, 2020), had lower hesitancy at a given time point compared to younger adults
Compared to January, in May: 1.7% more participants reported working outside the home, while 1.2% fewer re ported working at home, and 0.4% fewer reported not working for pay
Summary
The development of highly efficacious COVID-19 vaccines in less than one year is a major medical accomplishment of the last century. Vaccine hesitancy (i.e., a refusal or reluctance to be vacci nated) has slowed projected uptake (Razai et al, 2021) and remains a barrier COVID-19 pandemic control (Schaffer DeRoo et al, 2020). A greater reduction in vaccine hesitancy is needed to meet uptake goals of 70%-90% (Razai et al, 2021). Adults ≥ 60 years had a larger decrease in COVID-19 vaccine hesi tancy versus younger adults October 2020-March 2021 (Daly et al., 2021), and, consistent with previous reports (Daly et al, 2021; Khub chandani et al, 2021; Malik et al, 2020), had lower hesitancy at a given time point compared to younger adults. While younger versus older adults are less likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19 (Rosenthal et al, 2020), vaccine hesitancy among working-age adults may contribute to workplace outbreaks and spread of infection between workers and customers, healthcare workers and patients, and educators and students, all serious public health threats (Althouse et al, 2020; Gold et al, 2021)
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