tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Viruses
. 2021 Feb 26;13(3):371.
doi: 10.3390/v13030371.
Attitudes towards Anti-SARS-CoV2 Vaccination among Healthcare Workers: Results from a National Survey in Italy
Francesco Di Gennaro[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rita Murri[SUP] 2 3 [/SUP], Francesco Vladimiro Segala[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Lorenzo Cerruti[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Amina Abdulle[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Annalisa Saracino[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Davide Fiore Bavaro[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Massimo Fantoni[SUP] 2 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has afflicted tens of millions of people, fostering and unprecedent effort in vaccine development and distribution. Healthcare workers (HCW) play a key role in vaccine promotion and patient guidance, and it is likely that hesitancy among this population will have a major impact on the adoption of a successful immunization policy. To investigate HCW attitudes towards anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) vaccination, we developed an anonymous online cross-sectional survey. 1723 Italian HCW responded. Overall, 1155 (67%) intended to be vaccinated, while 443 (26%) were not sure and 125 (7%) declared refusal. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with hesitancy were using Facebook as the main information source and being a non-physician HCW, while predictors of acceptance included younger age, being in close contact with high-risk groups and having received flu vaccination during the 2019-2020 season. Reasons for hesitancy included lack of trust in vaccine safety (85%) and receiving little (78%) or conflicting (69%) information about vaccines. According to our results, adequate investment in vaccine education for healthcare personnel appears to be urgently needed, prioritizing non-physicians and information quality spread through social media. We hope that our data could help governments and policy-makers to target communication in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
Keywords: COVID-19; cross-sectional survey; healthcare workers; infectious diseases; vaccine hesitancy.
. 2021 Feb 26;13(3):371.
doi: 10.3390/v13030371.
Attitudes towards Anti-SARS-CoV2 Vaccination among Healthcare Workers: Results from a National Survey in Italy
Francesco Di Gennaro[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rita Murri[SUP] 2 3 [/SUP], Francesco Vladimiro Segala[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Lorenzo Cerruti[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Amina Abdulle[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Annalisa Saracino[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Davide Fiore Bavaro[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Massimo Fantoni[SUP] 2 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33652829
- DOI: 10.3390/v13030371
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has afflicted tens of millions of people, fostering and unprecedent effort in vaccine development and distribution. Healthcare workers (HCW) play a key role in vaccine promotion and patient guidance, and it is likely that hesitancy among this population will have a major impact on the adoption of a successful immunization policy. To investigate HCW attitudes towards anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) vaccination, we developed an anonymous online cross-sectional survey. 1723 Italian HCW responded. Overall, 1155 (67%) intended to be vaccinated, while 443 (26%) were not sure and 125 (7%) declared refusal. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with hesitancy were using Facebook as the main information source and being a non-physician HCW, while predictors of acceptance included younger age, being in close contact with high-risk groups and having received flu vaccination during the 2019-2020 season. Reasons for hesitancy included lack of trust in vaccine safety (85%) and receiving little (78%) or conflicting (69%) information about vaccines. According to our results, adequate investment in vaccine education for healthcare personnel appears to be urgently needed, prioritizing non-physicians and information quality spread through social media. We hope that our data could help governments and policy-makers to target communication in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
Keywords: COVID-19; cross-sectional survey; healthcare workers; infectious diseases; vaccine hesitancy.