COVID-19 vaccination in Canadian dental schools聽聽
Isabella Turquete聽
MSc. student in Dental Science (Second year) - UU直播聽
Introduction:聽Vaccine hesitancy is one of the top ten issues that can threaten global health. It was a major issue during the COVID-19 crisis. Health care workers (HCW鈥檚) including dental students worldwide have shown vaccine hesitancy, however, few data are available for this group in Canada, highlighting the necessity for further research.聽聽
Objectives:聽This study aimed to document COVID-19 vaccination experience among students and academic and support staff in Canadian dental schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also considered the timing of receiving the first and second doses of the vaccine.聽
Methodology:聽This prospective cohort study, based on data from April 2021 to May 2022, included 600 participants from all 10 Canadian dental schools (students, faculty, and support staff). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to identify COVID-19 acceptance predictors as well as to investigate factors associated with receiving the vaccine later than most of the sample.聽
Results:聽Overall, 600 participants answered the baseline survey in April 2021. Out of these, 545 (91%) reported being vaccinated with at least the first dose, which represents the vast majority, and only 38 (6%) did not reported any vaccination. Most participants (n = 411, 70%) were female and students (n = 315, 52,5%) and average age was 36 years old. The average time to get the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was approximately one month, and three months to the second dose. Students took more days to receive both doses. No statistically significant associations were found between chronic conditions, flu vaccination status, age groups, sex, role, or provinces with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Individuals aged 50-59 were less likely to be vaccinated later than most of the sample.聽聽
Conclusions:聽The large majority of individuals in the sample received their first vaccine dose, and our study did not reveal any factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. This may be attributed to the limited number of unvaccinated individuals. Also, we noted that people aged 50-59 years were less likely to be vaccinated later than most of the sample.聽
Key words: COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine hesitancy, dental schools.聽