BACKGROUND: Vaccine hesitancy presents a major challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is crucial to address the factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy necessary to control the associated morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to investigate the impact of professional medical guidance on the likelihood of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in immigrants of USA and Canada. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 92 immigrants in the USA and Canada who predominantly spoke Malayalam were recruited using social media platforms. An online survey was administered investigating participants’ confidence in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Following, a short webinar was conducted by a medical professional explaining the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. A postwebinar survey was immediately given assessing the confidence and likelihood of receiving the vaccine. SPSS was used to generate descriptive statistics and Pearson Chi-square analysis where appropriate. RESULTS: Results revealed that participants who attended the webinar reported greater confidence in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. There was a statistically significant difference between pre- and postwebinar confidence scores for the COVID-19 vaccine, χ2 (12, n = 80) = 43.34, P < 0.01. CONCLUSION: Results from the current study demonstrate the successful delivery of professional medical guidance to the general public through online small-group sessions to help address the misconceptions surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine and combat vaccine hesitancy among vulnerable populations. Future studies should focus on interventions addressing vaccine hesitancy in larger and diverse populations and analyze other barriers to vaccination.
BACKGROUND: Vaccine hesitancy leads to an increase in morbidity, mortality, and health-care burden. Reasons for vaccine hesitancy include anti-vax group statements, misinformation about vaccine side effects, speed of vaccine development, and general disbelief in the existence of viruses like COVID-19. Medical students are future physicians and are key influencers in the uptake of vaccines. Hence, investigating vaccine hesitancy in this population can help to overcome any barrier in vaccine acceptance. METHODS: In this paper, we review five articles on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in medical students and consider potential future research. All published papers relevant to the topic were obtained through extensive search using major databases. Inclusion criteria included studies that specifically investigated COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in medical students published between 2020 and 2021. Exclusion criteria included studies that investigated vaccine hesitancy in health-care professionals, allied health, and viruses apart from COVID-19. A total of 10 studies were found from our search. RESULTS: Based on our exclusion criteria, only five studies were included in our review. The sample size ranged from 168 to 2133 medical students. The percentage of vaccine hesitancy in medical students ranged from 10.6 to 65.1%. Reasons for vaccine hesitancy included concern about serious side effects, vaccine efficacy, misinformation and insufficient information, disbelief in public health experts, financial costs, and belief that they had acquired immunity. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that vaccine hesitancy is an important cause of the incidence and prevalence of COVID-19 cases. Identifying the barriers of vaccine hesitancy in prospective physicians can help increase vaccination uptake in the general public. Further research is necessary to identify the root cause of these barriers.
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