One-third of doctors and over half of nurses were reluctant to take the COVID-19 vaccine because they feared potential side effects, according to in-house research by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
“Fifty-nine percent of health-care workers reported some degree of hesitancy in their decision to get vaccinated,” said the report, which added that 31 percent of doctors and 54 percent of nurses surveyed admitted “some level of hesitancy.”
According to the report obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, one health-care worker questioned during the survey said of the vaccines “You had to get them to keep your job.” Another said the vaccines were “developed in a matter of a couple of months that’s being handed out like candy.” A third worker said, “I have a family and a mortgage. I was like, what would I be able to do to make the same amount of money and provide for my family?”
The research found that despite many health workers being reluctant, 89 percent received the vaccines, with the most commonly reported reason being a fear of job loss.
While health-care workers “generally expressed strong support for vaccination in general,” when it came to COVID-19 vaccines specifically, they had lower perceptions around safety and effectiveness. Those lower perceptions were found particularly among nurses and “allied health workers” (ALHWs), the latter being workers such as medical laboratory technologists, dental hygienists, paramedics, respiratory therapists, and dentists.
Concerns Over Side Effects Common
Among the 8 percent who were unvaccinated for COVID-19, the most common reasons were concerns about long-term side effects (87 percent), concerns about the safety of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (85 percent), concerns about the effectiveness of the vaccines (79 percent), and rejection of being mandated to get vaccinated (72 percent).Other reasons for refusing COVID-19 vaccination included concerns about short-term side effects (65 percent), lack of confidence in Canada’s regulatory and informational systems for immunization (64 percent), concerns about the frequency of injections and vaccine schedules (53 percent), perception that the risk posed by the disease was being exaggerated (52 percent), and religious or spiritual reasons (45 percent).
When asked why those who were vaccinated took the COVID-19 vaccines, 53 percent replied, “It was required to maintain my job.” Researchers found that concerns around the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines were “among the largest factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy.”
The research categorized health workers (HWs) into three subgroups based on profession. Besides the ALHWs, with 1,431 individuals surveyed, the other two subgroups were health-care professionals (HCPs), with 3,134 individuals surveyed, such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists, and auxiliary health workers (AUHWs), with 807 individuals surveyed, such as admission and reception clerks, personal support workers, and health-care technicians.
Despite vaccine uptake being so high in Canada, the report found that 76 percent of HCPs, 71 percent of ALHWs, and 58 percent of AUHWs said they became infected with the disease.
The report added that “the proportion of self-reported infection did not vary significantly based on vaccination status.”
PHAC said the report’s findings were significant. “As a priority group for vaccination, evaluating the real-world COVID-19 vaccines uptake and performance among HWs is critical for understanding these behavioural and attitudinal decisions,” the report said.
The report’s findings were based on an online questionnaire with 5,372 health workers along with 33 in-depth interviews and focus group sessions conducted from May 8 to Aug. 14, 2023.
