Abstract
Abstract
Older adults are priority coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine recipients. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of and factors influencing vaccine hesitancy in older adults living in care homes and communities. A self-administered COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy survey was conducted from September 2021 to December 2021 among people aged ≥60 years in eight care homes (382 participants) and the community (112 participants) in Taizhou, China. We found that 58.1% of the older adults in care homes and 36.6% of those in the community were hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and that there was a statistically significant difference (P<0.001). Multiple logistic regression results indicated that the main factors influencing hesitation among the older adults in care homes were being male (OR=1.67, 95% CI: 1.01-2.76); their cognitive level, including having a high perceived risk of COVID-19 infection (OR=3.06, 95% CI: 1.73-5.43) or the perception of low vaccine safety (OR=3.08, 95% CI: 1.545- 6.145); anxiety (OR=3.43, 95% CI: 1.96-5.99); and no previous influenza vaccination (OR=1.82, 95% CI: 1.13-2.93); whereas those for older adults in the community were comorbid chronic diseases (OR=3.13, 95% CI: 1.11- 8.78) and community workers not recommending the vaccine (OR=8.223, 95% CI: 1.77-38.27). The proportion of older adults in care homes who were hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine was significantly higher than for older adults in the community. Targeted measures should be implemented to reduce vaccine hesitancy and improve vaccination rates in response to the special environment of care homes and the characteristics of this population.
Publisher
Research Square Platform LLC