The influence of social network on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers: a cross-sectional survey in Chongqing, China

ABSTRACT

The factors that lead to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy among health-care workers (HCWs) are unclear. We aimed to identify the factors that influence HCWs’ hesitancy, especially the influence of their social network. Using an online platform, we surveyed HCWs in Chongqing, China, in January 2021 to understand the factors that influence the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among HCWs. Proportional allocation stratified sampling method was used to recruit respondents. Multivariable logistic regression and social network analysis (SNA) were used to analyze the influence factors. A total of 5247 HCWs were included and 23.3% of them were vaccine-hesitant. Participants were more hesitant if they had chronic diseases (OR = 1.411, 95% CI: 1.146–1.738), worked in tertiary hospitals (OR = 1.546, 95% CI: 1.231–1.942), and reported a history of vaccine hesitancy (OR = 1.637, 95% CI: 1.395–1.920) and refusal toward other vaccines (OR = 2.433, 95% CI: 2.067–2.863). The participants with a social network to communicate COVID-19 immunization were less hesitant (OR = 0.850, 95% CI: 0.728–0.993). Several influential members with social networks were found in SNA. Most of these influential members in the networks were department leaders who were willing to get COVID-19 vaccines (P < .05). Hesitant subgroups among Chinese HCWs were linked to the lack of a social network to communicate COVID-19 immunization. Our findings may lead to tailored interventions to enhance COVID-19 vaccine uptake among HCWs by targeting key members in social network.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• coronavirus
• COVID-19
• vaccine
• vaccine hesitancy
• healthcare worker (HCW)
• social network analysis (SNA)

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express great appreciation to all the participants in the hospitals for their assistance in the data collection of the survey.

Author contributions

Conceptualization, Qing Wang; study design, Binyue Xu and Qing Wang; data analysis, Binyue Xu, Yi Zhang; investigation, Lei Chen, Linling Yu, Lanxin Li; resources, Yi Zhang; data curation, Binyue Xu; writing—original draft preparation, Binyue Xu; writing—review and editing, Yi Zhang, and Qing Wang; visualization, Binyue Xu; supervision, Binyue Xu; project administration, Binyue Xu; funding acquisition, Binyue Xu. All authors involved in the discussion of results and have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The research is an interview survey in nature and hence is exempted from the IRB review. Informed consent to participate was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to participant’s privacy concerns.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website at https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2021.2004837

Additional information

Funding

This research and the APC were funded by Health Commission of Chongqing municipal, China with [Grant number 2019QNXM032].