Perceptions and knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy among vaccinated and non-vaccinated obstetric healthcare workers

Abstract

The COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing COVID-19 illness; however, pregnant people were not included in the original COVID-19 vaccine trials, with resultant conflicting recommendations from health organizations regarding vaccinations for this high-risk population. Pregnant and lactating healthcare workers (HCWs), along with people planning a pregnancy, identified as “obstetric HCWs” in our study, were among the first to make decisions regarding vaccinating themselves against COVID-19. Given that HCWs are key sources of information and access to vaccinations, this study was conducted to understand the perceptions and knowledge of obstetric HCWs regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. An electronic survey to HCWs at a tertiary care institution in Pittsburgh, PA identified 83 obstetric HCWs, of which 65 (78.3%) received at least one dose of the either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, and 18 (21.7%) had not received any doses of vaccine. Pregnancy status influenced more people not to receive than to receive the vaccine. We found that both vaccinated and non-vaccinated obstetric HCWs had accurate knowledge regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. However, compared to non-vaccinated obstetric HCWs, vaccinated obstetric HCWs tended to endorse beliefs regarding herd immunity, believed they had a higher chance of acquiring COVID-19, and felt that the COVID-19 vaccine was safe for fetuses and people who were pregnant, lactating, breastfeeding, or planning a pregnancy. This study offers insight into obstetric individuals’ perceptions and knowledge of the COVID-19 vaccine, and highlights areas where additional education and outreach may help obstetric individuals make informed decisions on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• COVID-19 vaccine
• healthcare worker
• pregnancy
• lactation

Acknowledgements

The authors have no further acknowledgements.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report.

Funding

The authors received no funding for this work. TK’s time was supported, in part, by the S&R Foundation’s Kuno Award for Applied Science for the Social Good.

Data availability statement

Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data are not available.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.