Summarised by Centrist
A new study from the Polish Academy of Sciences has found 42% of healthcare workers examined were hesitant about a second COVID booster dose. Many plan to refuse any further doses. A negative experience with the original dose was amongst the reasons cited.
The study, published in the journal Vaccines, involved 69 healthcare workers in Poland. One of the commonly-cited reasons healthcare workers were not keen on COVID vaccines, or boosters, was they believed that natural immunity post SARS-CoV-2 infection provided adequate protection.
They’re not alone. Vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers has been found in numerous studies worldwide. A March 2023 study of healthcare workers from Cameroon and Nigeria found COVID vaccine hesitancy was:
“(B)roadly determined by the perceived risk of COVID and COVID vaccines on personal health, mistrust in COVID vaccines, and uncertainty about colleagues’ vaccine acceptability.”
A May 2022 analysis at BMJ Global Health warned that mandatory vaccination policies “may cause more harm than good.” Meanwhile an April 2022 study found that “a concern for vaccine side effects” and “the belief that the vaccines are inadequately studied” were some of the key reasons for vaccine hesitancy among health care workers.
