Factors Explaining Responses to Influenza and COVID-19 Vaccination Among Nurses in Israel
<b>Background/Objectives</b>: During the COVID-19 pandemic, influenza vaccination compliance among nurses in Israel was significantly lower than in previous years. This study sought to evaluate factors associated with vaccination compliance. <b>Methods</b>: An online cross-sectional survey conducted in March-April 2022 among 386 Israeli nurses examined perceived disease threat, vaccination barriers, perceived vaccine benefits, attitudes, and subjective norms/social influences. <b>Results</b>: During the 2021/2022 winter season, the vaccination rate for COVID-19 was higher than for influenza (68.4% vs. 61.9%). For both, vaccination compliance was positively associated with perceived susceptibility and severity, perceived benefits, and supporting attitude and negatively associated with barriers. The odds for COVID-19 vaccination were higher among older (<i>OR</i> = 1.04, 95% <i>CI</i> = 1.02, 1.07, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and more experienced nurses (age and years of experience, <i>r</i> = 0.89, <i>p</i> < 0.001). For both, perceived susceptibility and severity were higher among female nurses (influenza <i>M</i> = 3.29 <i>SD</i> = 0.88; COVID-19 <i>M</i> = 3.65 <i>SD</i> = 0.83) than male nurses (influenza <i>M</i> = 3.03 <i>SD</i> = 0.90; COVID-19 <i>M</i> = 3.32 <i>SD</i> = 0.83). A model assessing the associations between COVID-19-related variables and influenza vaccination compliance found that higher perceived susceptibility and severity regarding COVID-19, lower perceived barriers to COVID-19 vaccination, and more supportive attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination were related to a greater likelihood of influenza vaccination compliance. <b>Conclusions</b>: Perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and attitudes made a significantly greater contribution to influenza vaccination than to COVID-19 vaccination, whereas perceived benefits made a significantly greater contribution to COVID-19 vaccination than to influenza vaccination.
Authors
- Ola Ali‐Saleh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3013-3907)
Institutions
- The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College (IL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Vaccines
- Published
- 2025-04-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13050454
- Primary Topic
- Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00