Abstract

Vaccinations used to prevent coronavirus disease (COVID-19)—the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)—are critical in order to contain the ongoing pandemic. However, SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccination rates have only slowly increased since the beginning of the vaccination campaign, even with at-risk workers (e.g., HCWs), presumptively because of vaccine hesitancy. Vaccination mandates are considered instrumental in order to rapidly improve immunization rates (but they minimize the impact of vaccination campaigns). In this study, we investigated the acceptance (i.e., knowledge, attitudes, and practices) from occupational physicians (OPs)) in regard to SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccination mandates. A total of 166 OPs participated in an internet-based survey by completing structured questionnaires. Adequate, general knowledge of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 was found in the majority of OPs. High perception of SARS-CoV-2 risk was found in around 80% of participants (79.5% regarding its occurrence, 81.9% regarding its potential severity). SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccination was endorsed by 90.4% of respondents, acceptance for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was quite larger for mRNA formulates (89.8%) over adenoviral ones (59.8%). Endorsement of vaccination mandates was reported by 60.2% of respondents, and was more likely endorsed by OPs who exhibited higher concern for SARS-CoV-2 infection occurrence (odds ratio 3.462, 95% confidence intervals 1.060–11.310), who were likely to accept some sort of payment/copayment for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccination (3.896; 1.607; 9.449), or who were more likely to believe HCWs not vaccinates against SARS-CoV-2 as unfit for work (4.562; 1.935; 10.753). In conclusion, OPs exhibited wide acceptance of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccinations, and the majority endorsed vaccination mandates for HCWs, which may help improve vaccination rates in occupational settings.

Highlights

  • 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus

  • We asked participants about their trust in vaccines, i.e., were they instrumental in preventing infectious diseases, in general, and we focused on seasonal influenza vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines

  • occupational physicians (OPs) participating in our survey exhibited mostly favorable attitudes toward SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and a large share of them endorsed vaccination mandates for healthcare workers (HCWs)

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Summary

Introduction

On 11 March, 2020, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease. 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a pandemic [1]. As of August 2021, there were more than 204 million cases and approximately 4 million deaths due to SARS-CoV-2, and even more disruptions impacting societies and economies worldwide [2]. Development and deployment of vaccines that are able to stop the COVID-19 pandemic have become a global priority [3]. In December 2020, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European

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