(254) COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Health Care Workers: The Case of Pharmacy Staff of The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital

Publication Number: 1299

Background: There is evidence that vaccine hesitancy is present among health care workers although various studies on covid-19 vaccination prioritizations conclude that health workers should be prioritized because they are first hand responders. In order not to waste such vaccines it is important to ascertain levels of vaccination among healthcare workers.

Objectives: 1. To determine vaccination status among healthcare workers at the pharmacy department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
2. To identify difference in vaccination status among the various categories of pharmacy staff.

Methods: The was a cross section study with collection of data on vaccination status from all staff of the pharmacy department of the KBTH one month after receiving the first and second doses of the Covishield© vaccine. Prior to vaccination there was notification to all staff of the hospital through formal letters and information on social media, predominantly through Whatsapp© messages on staff platforms. the Hospital received enough vaccines to vaccinate staff for the first and second round vaccinations. Vaccination status among staff was ascertained using national vaccination cards issued after vaccination. Other information including gender, unit of work, grade, reason for not vaccinating were also captured. Descriptive statistics involved distribution (number and percentage) of the various categories of staff by sex, those with only one vaccination, those with two vaccinations, those with at least one vaccination, and those without any vaccination. Inferential statistics involved both crude and adjusted odds ratios using logistic regression. For logistic regression, a binary variable "full vaccination vs partial/no vaccination" was generated. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Stata intercooled version 15 was used for analysis.

Results: A total of 240 workers, representing about 96% of pharmacy staff were captured. It was found that 66% of staff had received two doses and almost 80% had received at least one dose of the Covishield vaccine. Although males were more likely to vaccinate compared to females, this was not significant (OR=1.64, 95% CI 0.91 to 2.99; p=0.104). Independent odds ratios confirmed that compared to dispensing assistants, pharmacist were almost four times as likely to vaccinate (OR=3.89, 95% CI 1.72 to 8.76; p=0.001). It was also found that for logistics purposes 151 doses of the Covishield vaccine would be needed for complete vaccination of all pharmacy staff.

Conclusions: To improve vaccination coverage among this group of healthcare workers, more information on the importance of vaccination against COVID-19 should be targeted towards those at the lower levels.