What prevents patients from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine?

A recent study has found potential associations between vaccine hesitancy and epidemiologic factors, including barriers to receiving vaccination against COVID-19.

This study sought to determine whether a relationship exists between vaccine hesitancy and epidemiologic factors, as well as to identify perceived patient-reported barriers associated with receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

The authors used a written questionnaire to gather data from eligible patients over a 15-week period between October 2020 and February 2021. They also used a combination of nonparametric tests and descriptive statistics to analyse the data.

Most of the patients were either very strongly supportive of (28.2 percent) or very strongly against (29.7 percent) receiving vaccination against COVID-19. Of note, patients with advanced degrees were more likely to get vaccinated than those without (48.1 percent vs 38.8 percent; p=0.032).

In addition, a significant difference was observed between races as regards their interest in receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Blacks were more likely to answer very strongly against receiving the vaccine relative to Caucasians and Hispanics (60.9 percent vs 22.1 percent and 30.4 percent, respectively; p<0.001).

Concern for side effects was the most reported barrier to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

“With widespread vaccination underway, it is imperative that we learn and address concerns about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine to ensure community protection against this serious life-threatening infectious disease,” the authors said.