Dataset Information

Intention to have the seasonal influenza vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic among eligible adults in the UK: a cross-sectional survey.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To investigate the likelihood of having the seasonal influenza vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals who were eligible to receive it.

Design

We conducted a cross-sectional online survey in July 2020. We included predictors informed by previous research, in the following categories: sociodemographic variables; uptake of influenza vaccine last winter and beliefs about vaccination.

Participants

570 participants (mean age: 53.07; 56.3% female, 87.0% white) who were eligible for the free seasonal influenza vaccination in the UK.

Results

59.7% of our sample indicated they were likely to have the seasonal influenza vaccination, 22.1% reported being unlikely to have the vaccination and 18.2% were unsure. We used logistic regression to investigate variables associated with intention to receive a seasonal influenza vaccine in the 2020-2021 season. A positive attitude to vaccination in general predicted intention to have the influenza vaccine in 2020-2021 (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.77, p<0.001) but the strongest predictor of intention was previous influenza vaccination behaviour (OR 278.58, 95% CI 78.04 to 994.46, p<0.001).

Conclusions

Previous research suggests that increasing uptake of the influenza vaccination may help contain a COVID-19 outbreak, so steps need to be taken to convert intention into behaviour and to reach those individuals who reported being unlikely or unsure about having the vaccine.

SUBMITTER: Sherman SM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8282414 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Intention to have the seasonal influenza vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic among eligible adults in the UK: a cross-sectional survey.

Sherman Susan M SM Sim Julius J Amlôt Richard R Cutts Megan M Dasch Hannah H Rubin G James GJ Sevdalis Nick N Smith Louise E LE

BMJ open 20210713 7

<h4>Objective</h4>To investigate the likelihood of having the seasonal influenza vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals who were eligible to receive it.<h4>Design</h4>We conducted a cross-sectional online survey in July 2020. We included predictors informed by previous research, in the following categories: sociodemographic variables; uptake of influenza vaccine last winter and beliefs about vaccination.<h4>Participants</h4>570 participants (mean age: 53.07; 56.3% female, 87.0% ...[more]

PMID: 34257095

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Project description:BackgroundMaintaining health of healthcare workers with vaccination is a major component of pandemic preparedness and acceptance of vaccinations is essential to its success. This study aimed to examine impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on change of influenza vaccination acceptance and identify factors associated with acceptance of potential COVID-19 vaccination.MethodA cross-sectional self-administered anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted among nurses in Hong Kong, China during 26 February and 31 March 2020. Their previous acceptance of influenza vaccination and intentions to accept influenza and COVID-19 vaccination were collected. Their relationship with work-related and other factors were examined using multiple multinomial logistic regressions.ResultsResponses from 806 participants were retrieved. More nurses changed from vaccination refusal to hesitancy or acceptance than those changed from acceptance to vaccination hesitancy or refusal (15.5% vs 6.8% among all participants, P < 0.001). 40.0% participants intended to accept COVID-19 vaccination, and those in private sector (OR: 1.67, 95%CI: 1.11-2.51), with chronic conditions (OR: 1.83, 95%CI: 1.22-2.77), encountering with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients (OR: 1.63, 95%CI: 1.14-2.33), accepted influenza vaccination in 2019 (OR: 2.03, 95%CI: 1.47-2.81) had higher intentions to accept it. Reasons for refusal and hesitation for COVID-19 vaccination included "suspicion on efficacy, effectiveness and safety", "believing it unnecessary", and "no time to take it".ConclusionWith a low level of COVID-19 acceptance intentions and high proportion of hesitation in both influenza and COVID-19 vaccination, evidence-based planning are needed to improve the uptake of both vaccinations in advance of their implementation. Future studies are needed to explore reasons of change of influenza vaccination acceptance, look for actual behaviour patterns of COVID-19 vaccination acceptance and examine effectiveness of promotion strategies.

Project description:BackgroundVaccines are one of the most important achievements of modern medicine. However, their acceptance is only partial, with vaccine hesitancy and refusal representing a major health threat. Influenza vaccines have low compliance since repeated, annual vaccination is required. Influenza vaccines stimulate discussions both in the real world and online. Social media is currently a significant source of health and medical information. Elucidating the association between social media engagement and influenza vaccination is important and may be applicable to other vaccines, including ones against COVID-19.ObjectiveThe goal of this study is to characterize profiles of social media engagement regarding the influenza vaccine and their association with knowledge and compliance in order to support improvement of future web-associated vaccination campaigns.MethodsA weblink to an online survey in Hebrew was disseminated over social media and messaging platforms. The survey answers were collected during April 2020. Anonymous and volunteer participants aged 21 years and over answered 30 questions related to sociodemographics; social media usage; influenza- and vaccine-related knowledge and behavior; health-related information searching, its reliability, and its influence; and COVID-19-related information searching. A univariate descriptive data analysis was performed, followed by multivariate analysis via building a decision tree to define the most important attributes associated with vaccination compliance.ResultsA total of 213 subjects responded to the survey, of whom 207 were included in the analysis; the majority of the respondents were female, were aged 21 to 40 years, had 1 to 2 children, lived in central Israel, were secular Israeli natives, had higher education, and had a salary close to the national average. Most respondents (128/207, 61.8%) were not vaccinated against influenza in 2019 and used social media. Participants that used social media were younger, secular, and living in high-density agglomerations and had lower influenza vaccination rates. The perceived influence and reliability of the information on social media about COVID-19 were generally similar to those perceptions about influenza.ConclusionsUsing social media is negatively linked to compliance with seasonal influenza vaccination in this study. A high proportion of noncompliant individuals can lead to increased consumption of health care services and can, therefore, overload these health services. This is particularly crucial with a concomitant outbreak, such as COVID-19. Health care professionals should use improved and targeted health communication campaigns with the aid of experts in social media. Targeted communication, based on sociodemographic factors and personalized social media usage, might increase influenza vaccination rates and compliance with other vaccines as well.

Dataset Information

Intention to have the seasonal influenza vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic among eligible adults in the UK: a cross-sectional survey.

Objective

Design

Participants

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Intention to have the seasonal influenza vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic among eligible adults in the UK: a cross-sectional survey.

Similar Datasets

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