Elsevier

Vaccine

Volume 41, Issue 10, 3 March 2023, Pages 1649-1656
Vaccine

Real-world uptake of COVID-19 vaccination among individuals expressing vaccine hesitancy: A registry-linkage study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.01.066Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Introduction

 Uptake of COVID-19 vaccination remains suboptimal in the United States and other settings. Though early reports indicated that a strong majority of people were interested in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, the association between vaccine intention and uptake is not yet fully understood. Our objective was to describe predictors of vaccine uptake, and estimate the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of self-reported COVID-19 vaccine status compared to a comprehensive statewide COVID-19 vaccine registry.

Methods

 A cohort of California residents that received a molecular test for SARS-CoV-2 infection during 24 February-5 December 2021 were enrolled in a telephone-administered survey. Survey participants were matched with records in a statewide immunization registry. Cox proportional hazards model were used to compare time to vaccination among those unvaccinated at survey enrollment by self-reported COVID-19 vaccination intention.

Results

Among 864 participants who were unvaccinated at the time of interview, 272 (31%) had documentation of receipt of COVID-19 vaccination at a later date; including 194/423 (45.9%) who had initially reported being willing to receive vaccination, 41/185 (22.2%) who reported being unsure about vaccination, and 37/278 (13.3%) who reported unwillingness to receive vaccination. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for registry-confirmed COVID-19 vaccination were 0.49 (95% confidence interval: 0.32–0.76) and 0.21 (0.12–0.36) for participants expressing uncertainty and unwillingness to receive vaccination, respectively, as compared with participants who reported being willing to receive vaccination. Time to vaccination was shorter among participants from higher-income households (aHR = 3.30 [2.02–5.39]) and who reported co-morbidities or immunocompromising conditions (aHR = 1.54 [1.01–2.36]). Sensitivity of self-reported COVID-19 vaccination status was 82% (80–85%) overall, and 98% (97–99%) among those referencing vaccination records; specificity was 87% (86–89%).

Conclusion

Willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccination was an imperfect predictor of real-world vaccine uptake. Improved messaging about COVID-19 vaccination regardless of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection status may help improve uptake.

Keywords

Covid-19
Flu
Influenza
Vaccine
Self-report
Vaccine hesitancy
Vaccine registry
SARS-COV-2

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

Cited by (0)

1

KLA and JFM contributed equally to the study.

2

Members of the California COVID-19 Case-Control Study Team include: Helia Samani, Nikolina Walas, Erin Xavier, Diana J. Poindexter, Najla Dabbagh, Michelle M. Spinosa, Shrey Saretha, Adrian F. Cornejo, Hyemin Park, Christine Wan, Miriam I. Bermejo, Amanda Lam, Amandeep Kaur, Ashly Dyke, Diana Felipe, Maya Spencer, Savannah Corredor, Yasmine Abdulrahim, Camilla M. Barbaduomo, Zheng N. Dong, Anna T. Fang, Paulina M. Frost, Timothy Ho, Mahsa H. Javadi, Sophia S. Li, Vivian H. Tran, Jennifer L. DeGuzman, and Christine Wan.