Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions of COVID-19 Vaccination among Healthcare Workers of an Inner-City Hospital in New York

Abstract

<b>Introduction:</b> New York City is one of the areas most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Healthcare workers are among those at high risk of contracting the virus, and a vital source of information and trust in vaccines to the community. <b>Methods:</b> This study was conducted about attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers at a public hospital in New York City during the beginning of COVID-19 vaccination. 428 hospital employees responded. <b>Results:</b> Several factors were significantly associated with vaccine attitudes, including demographics such as gender (<i>p</i> = 0.002), age (<i>p</i> = 0.005), race (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and home location (<i>p</i> < 0.001), role within the hospital (<i>p</i> < 0.001), knowledge about the virus (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and confidence in and expectations about personal protective equipment and behaviors (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Structural equation modeling revealed that the most predictive factors were prior vaccine attitudes and concern with the speed of testing and approval of the vaccines (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Multivariate analysis reinforced these, while also identifying perceived personal risk as significant (<i>p</i> = 0.033). <b>Conclusions:</b> Several modifiable factors that reflect confidence in science, scientific knowledge, personal risk perception, experience and medical authority are correlated with vaccine attitudes, indicating that a holistic educational approach to improve trust in science is likely to be effective in long-term reduction in vaccine hesitancy.