Determinants of vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers in an international multicenter study within the EuCARE project

A total of 2079 healthcare workers (HCWs) responded to an anonymous survey on vaccine hesitancy conducted between December 2022 and October 2023 at centers in Lithuania, Portugal, Poland, Germany, and Brazil. Only 55.7% were confident about the long-term safety of the COVID-19 vaccine; 10% believed the risk of having COVID-19 vaccines was greater than the risk of COVID-19 itself. 54.2% believed that COVID-19 vaccination should be compulsory for all staff working in healthcare settings (unless medically exempt), for all patient-facing HCW (59.0%), and for all medical, nursing, and midwifery students (56.7%); fewer supported compulsory influenza vaccination, i.e., 38.0%, 41.5% and 39.7% for equivalent groups. Under half had been vaccinated for influenza in recent years. Respondents were supportive of childhood vaccinations. Level of education, specific HCW occupation and geography were associated with the degree of vaccination hesitancy. The majority trusted advice from health professionals or scientists/doctors and distrusted statements from politicians. Key factors that HCWs thought would encourage vaccination included: vaccine availability at their workplace, vaccination of professional colleagues, sufficient opportunity to ask about vaccine safety and efficacy, supportive information from international bodies, and HCW plans to visit vulnerable family/friends. Generic vaccine promotion activities, whilst valuable, require nuanced modification for different HCW subgroups, vaccines, education levels, and geography.

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Publication Details

Journal
Scientific Reports
Published
2025-08-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-17507-y
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.33

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article

Determinants of vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers in an international multicenter study within the EuCARE project

Miłosz Parczewski, Daniel Naumovas, Elvira Perea, Joana P.V. Pereira et al.
2 citations
Scientific Reports
Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
4.33
article

Determinants of vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers in an international multicenter study within the EuCARE project

Miłosz Parczewski, Daniel Naumovas, Elvira Perea, Joana P.V. Pereira, Francesca Incardona, Júlia Fonseca de Morais Caporali, Raheelah Ahmad, Dian Kusuma, Nils Bardeck, Marcia Ashmi, Björn‐Erik Ole Jensen, Karol Serwin, Miguel Viveiros, Ana Abecasis, Dovilė Juozapaitė, Cristina Toscano, Francis Drobniewski, Jorge Andrade Pinto
article en
2 citations

Abstract

A total of 2079 healthcare workers (HCWs) responded to an anonymous survey on vaccine hesitancy conducted between December 2022 and October 2023 at centers in Lithuania, Portugal, Poland, Germany, and Brazil. Only 55.7% were confident about the long-term safety of the COVID-19 vaccine; 10% believed the risk of having COVID-19 vaccines was greater than the risk of COVID-19 itself. 54.2% believed that COVID-19 vaccination should be compulsory for all staff working in healthcare settings (unless medically exempt), for all patient-facing HCW (59.0%), and for all medical, nursing, and midwifery students (56.7%); fewer supported compulsory influenza vaccination, i.e., 38.0%, 41.5% and 39.7% for equivalent groups. Under half had been vaccinated for influenza in recent years. Respondents were supportive of childhood vaccinations. Level of education, specific HCW occupation and geography were associated with the degree of vaccination hesitancy. The majority trusted advice from health professionals or scientists/doctors and distrusted statements from politicians. Key factors that HCWs thought would encourage vaccination included: vaccine availability at their workplace, vaccination of professional colleagues, sufficient opportunity to ask about vaccine safety and efficacy, supportive information from international bodies, and HCW plans to visit vulnerable family/friends. Generic vaccine promotion activities, whilst valuable, require nuanced modification for different HCW subgroups, vaccines, education levels, and geography.

Scientific ReportsVol. 15(1)
Vilnius University (LT), City, University of London (GB), Düsseldorf University Hospital (DE), Hospital de Egas Moniz (PT), Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Ocidental (PT), Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR), European Society of Concurrent Enterprising Network (IT), University Hospital Cologne (DE), Vilnius University Hospital Santariskiu Klinikos (LT), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE), Imperial College London (GB), Pomeranian Medical University (PL)
Imperial College London, European Commission, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
4.33
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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