JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

With the emergence of the new variants of COVID-19, patients recovered from COVID-19 infection are at the risk of reinfection, although they already have the antibodies in their bodies. COVID-19 vaccine is associated with satisfactory short-term protection against COVID-19 infection and could boost infection-acquired immunity, however, certain amounts of COVID-19 survivors have not been vaccinated due to vaccine hesitancy.

Objective:

The current study aimed to investigate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and related factors among COVID-19 survivors.

Methods:

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among patients recovered from COVID-19 infection in Wuhan, China between June 10 and July 25, 2021. Data collected included sociodemographic information, the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy scale based on the 3Cs’ model, trust in vaccine manufacturing organizations and vaccination institutions, and reasons for getting COVID-19 vaccinated and not getting COVID-19 vaccinated. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between the investigated factors and the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Results:

Among 1422 participants, 538 (37.8%) were not vaccinated and 884 (62.2%) were vaccinated against COVID-19. Participants aged “41-60” years (OR: 2.19, 95CI%: 1.38-3.45) and “61-80” years (OR: 2.71, 95CI%: 1.64-4.50) were more likely to have received the COVID-19 vaccine than participants aged “≤40”; however, participants aged “>80” (OR: 0.16, 95%CI: 0.03-0.75) were less likely to be vaccinated with COVID-19 than participants aged “<40”. Regarding the construction of the 3C model, complacency was a significant negative factor for COVID-19 vaccination (OR: 0.81, 95%CI: 0.71-0.94), while convenience was a significant positive factor for COVID-19 vaccination (OR: 1.20, 95%CI: 1.06-1.36). “Self-needs” was the main reason for patients to receive the COVID-19 vaccine; “already have antibodies and do not need vaccination” was the main reason for patients not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Conclusions:

COVID-19 survivors need targeted educational interventions to motivate them to get vaccinated, especially those who are older and those who have hesitancy about COVID-19 vaccination. Dissemination of available evidence of vaccine efficacy and safety, making COVID-19 survivors aware that immunity gained through vaccination is superior to that gained through infection, increasing their awareness of the need for vaccination, and reducing their complacency will facilitate vaccine coverage.