Predictors of vaccine hesitancy among disability support workers in Australia: A cross-sectional survey.
Anne Kavanagh, Helen Dickinson, Stefanie Dimov and 2 others
PMID 36202734WHAT IT FOUND
Disability support workers who doubted vaccine safety or efficacy, saw vaccination as personal choice, or thought media exaggerated COVID seriousness were much more likely to report hesitancy.
Key findings
01Workers who did not agree the approved vaccine was safe were more likely to be hesitant (83% versus 17.8%).
02Workers who thought media exaggerated the seriousness of COVID-19 were more likely to be hesitant (90.7% versus 40.8%).
03Workers who saw vaccination as personal choice were more likely to be hesitant than those who saw it as community responsibility (82.1% versus 27.6%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The survey was not representative of all Australian disability support workers; 80.6% of participants were from Victoria, and no national register exists for this workforce. The analytic sample was 199 after exclusions from 252 eligible completed responses, and missing data were highest for age (11%) and country of birth (6%). Because it was a cross-sectional survey, it cannot show that beliefs caused hesitancy or that changing beliefs would change vaccination behaviour. The survey was done in early 2021 when community transmission was low, vaccine supply was limited, AstraZeneca concerns were emerging, and hesitancy was high in the wider community, so results may not apply later. The study could not examine whether having seen people with disability become seriously ill or die influenced hesitancy because Australia had not had high caseloads at the time. Participants were not followed to see whether hesitancy translated into actual vaccination or workforce exits after mandates.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as proof that changing beliefs will reduce hesitancy. The survey measured beliefs and hesitancy at one time, and the sample was not representative of all disability support workers.