Individual-level determinants of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant people in East Tennessee.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection during pregnancy increases the risk of severe illness and death. This study describes individual-level determinants of COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant people in East Tennessee. Advertisements for the online Moms and Vaccines survey were placed in prenatal clinics in Knoxville, Tennessee. Determinants were compared between unvaccinated individuals and those partially or fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Wave 1 of the Moms and Vaccines study included 99 pregnant people: 21 (21.2%) were unvaccinated and 78 (78.8%) were partially or fully vaccinated. Compared with the unvaccinated individuals, the partially or fully vaccinated patients more often obtained information about COVID-19 from their prenatal care provider (8 [38.1%] vs. 55 [70.5%], P= 0.006) and indicated higher levels of trust in that information (4 [19.1] vs. 69 [88.5%], P< 0.0001). Misinformation was higher in the unvaccinated group overall, although there was no difference in concern for the severity of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy by vaccination status (1 [5.0%] of the unvaccinated vs. 16 [20.8%] of the partially or fully vaccinated, P= 0.183). Strategies to counter misinformation are of the utmost importance, particularly pregnancy- and reproductive health-related misinformation, because of the increased risk of severe disease faced by unvaccinated pregnant individuals.