Healthcare personnel knowledge, motivations, concerns and intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccines: a cross-sectional survey

Jain, V.; Doernberg, S. B.; Holubar, M.; Huang, B.; Marquez, C.; Brown, L.; Rubio, L.; Sample, H. A.; Bollyky, J.; Padda, G.; Valdivieso, D.; Kempema, A.; Leung, C.; Sklar, M.; Julien, A.; Paoletti, M.; Jaladanki, S.; Wan, E.; Ghahremani, J.; Chao, J.; Weng, Y.; Lu, D.; Glidden, D.; Grumbach, K.; Maldonado, Y.; Rutherford, G.

Background: Healthcare personnel (HCP) are prioritized for earliest SARS-CoV-2 vaccine administration, yet relatively few data exist on HCP's knowledge, motivations, concerns, and intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey Nov.16-Dec.8, 2020 among HCP enrolled in a cohort study at three Northern California medical centers serving diverse roles including COVID-19 patient care. Eligible HCP were adult (age<=18) on-site employees of the University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco General Hospital, and Stanford Healthcare. A one-time electronically-administered survey was sent to cohort HCP on November 16, 2020 and responses analyzed. Results: Overall, among 2,448 HCP invited, 2,135 completed the COVID-19 vaccine survey (87.2% response rate). HCPs had mean age 41 years, were 73% female, and had diverse jobs including COVID-19 patient contact. Enthusiasm for vaccination was overall strong, and more HCP (1,453, 69%) said they would definitely/likely receive vaccine if formally FDA-approved versus if approved via emergency use authorization only (785, 35%). While 541 (25%) respondents wanted to be among the earliest to receive vaccine, more desired vaccination after the first round (777, 36%) or >2 months after vaccinations began (389, 18%). Top factors increasing motivation for vaccination included perceiving risk from COVID-19 to self (1,382, 65%) or to family/friends (1355, 63%). Top concerns were vaccine side effects, cited by 596 (28%), and concerns about political involvement in FDA's approval process (249, 12%). Conclusions: HCP were enthusiastic about COVID-19 vaccination for individual protection and protecting others, but harbored concerns about vaccine side effects. Our data may inform emerging vaccine education campaigns.