COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors

Waters, Austin R.; Kepka, Deanna; Ramsay, Joemy M.; Mann, Karely; Vaca Lopez, Perla L.; Anderson, John S.; Ou, Judy Y.; Kaddas, Heydon K.; Palmer, Alexandra; Ray, Nicole; Tsukamoto, Tomoko; Fair, Douglas B.; Lewis, Mark A.; Kirchhoff, Anne C.; Warner, Echo L.

The study objective was to identify sociodemographic and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) factors that are associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors. Eligible participants were 18 years or older and were diagnosed with cancer as an AYA (ages 15-39 years) and received services through an AYA cancer program. A total of 342 participants completed a cross-sectional survey. Our primary outcome—COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy—was surveyed as a 5-point Likert scale and operationalized as a binary outcome (agree vs hesitant). A large proportion of participants reported COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (37.1%). In the multivariable regression, female survivors (odds ratio = 1.81, 95% confidence interval = 1.10 to 2.98) and survivors with a high school education or less (odds ratio = 3.15, 95% confidence interval = 1.41 to 7.04) reported higher odds of vaccine hesitancy compared with their male or college graduate or higher counterparts. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy persists among AYA survivors despite their recommended priority vaccination status and higher chances of severe COVID-19 outcomes.