COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy, Acceptance, and Promotion Among Healthcare Workers: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

• Published in: Journal of community health Vol. 47; no. 5; pp. 750 - 758
• Main Authors: Hoffman, Beth L., Boness, Cassandra L., Chu, Kar-Hai, Wolynn, Riley, Sallowicz, Larissa, Mintas, Dino, Douaihy, Antoine B., Felter, Elizabeth M., Sidani, Jaime E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Combined vaccines; Community and Environmental Psychology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Digital media; Employment; Ethics; Health care; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Immunization; Medical personnel; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mixed methods research; Original Paper; Pharmaceutical industry; Social Media; Social networks; Surveys; Triangulation; Vaccination; Vaccines; COVID-19; Healthcare; Vaccine hesitancy; Social media; Health communication
• ISSN: 0094-5145; 1573-3610
• DOI: 10.1007/s10900-022-01095-3

Even with vaccine mandates, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy remains a concern among healthcare workers, in part due to their role in promoting vaccination among patients and communities. To examine COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, acceptance, and promotion among healthcare workers, we conducted a mixed-methods analysis of (1) survey responses about COVID-19 vaccination and (2) Twitter messages (i.e., tweets) relevant to COVID-19 vaccination and healthcare. A total of 540 hospital employees completed the survey. Those that completed less than 80% of the survey or did not endorse employment at the hospital were excluded, resulting in a total of 511 valid responses; 93.2% reported receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Approximately 1/3 of vaccinated individuals indicated they posted about receiving the vaccine on social media. Simultaneously, we analyzed a sample of 3845 tweets; 2299 (60%) were relevant to COVID-19 vaccination and 1863 (81%) were coded as authored by an individual. Of tweets authored by an individual, 6% (n = 106) were authored by a healthcare provider/health sciences student. Among relevant tweets, the most frequent code across all sentiment categories was related to the pharmaceutical industry (n = 529 tweets, 28%; n = 33, 31% of tweets authored by healthcare workers). Triangulation of results found themes including vaccine access, trust, and vaccine safety or negative health impacts. Results suggest that promoting the sharing of COVID-19 vaccine personal narratives on social media, combined with interventions targeting specific reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and emphasizing freedom from fear once vaccinated could be effective at reducing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among this population.