Estimating Vaccine Confidence Levels among Healthcare Staff and Students of a Tertiary Institution in South Africa.

Elizabeth O. Oduwole,Tonya M. Esterhuizen,Hassan Mahomed,Charles S. Wiysonge

doi:10.3390/vaccines9111246

Abstract

Healthcare workers were the first group scheduled to receive COVID-19 vaccines when they became available in South Africa. Therefore, estimating vaccine confidence levels and intention to receive COVID-19 vaccines among healthcare workers ahead of the national vaccination roll-out was imperative. We conducted an online survey from 4 February to 7 March 2021, to assess vaccine sentiments and COVID-19 vaccine intentions among healthcare staff and students at a tertiary institution in South Africa. We enrolled 1015 participants (74.7% female). Among the participants, 89.5% (confidence interval (CI) 87.2–91.4) were willing to accept a COVID-19 vaccine, 95.4% (CI 93.9–96.6) agreed that vaccines are important for them, 95.4% (CI 93.8–96.6) that vaccines are safe, 97.4% (CI 96.2–98.3) that vaccines are effective, and 96.1% (CI 94.6–97.2) that vaccines are compatible with religion. Log binomial regression revealed statistically significant positive associations between COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and the belief that vaccines are safe (relative risk (RR) 32.2, CI 4.67–221.89), effective (RR 21.4, CI 3.16–145.82), important for children (RR 3.5, CI 1.78–6.99), important for self (RR 18.5, CI 4.78–71.12), or compatible with religion (RR 2.2, CI 1.46–3.78). The vaccine confidence levels of the study respondents were highly positive. Nevertheless, this could be further enhanced by targeted interventions.

Highlights

Twenty months since the appearance of the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) [1] on the global stage, the world is still struggling to combat and curtail the disease and its effects
Our results show high levels of positive vaccine sentiment expressed by the study respondents across and within all groups investigated
Vaccination intention does not always translate to action [30,31], the positive disposition of current and future healthcare workers of the study population is potentially indicative of the better promotion of the uptake of routine and COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination

Summary

Introduction

Twenty months since the appearance of the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) [1] on the global stage, the world is still struggling to combat and curtail the disease and its effects. It is widely acknowledged that the success of any vaccination endeavor depends largely on the healthcare workforce, who usually are the most trusted source of health information for the public [14,15,16]. These healthcare workers were the first to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when one became available [17] and are not immune to vaccination concerns, as previously documented [14,15,16,18,19]. The accelerated development, production, and pre-licensure emergency use authorization of the successful vaccine candidates has added pressure to

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Conclusion