COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy Among Dental and Medical Students

Abstract

Background

Dental students (DS) and medical students (MS) are exposed to COVID-19. It is important to achieve high COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates in both these groups. We developed a survey to assess the vaccine hesitancy amongst MS and DS to COVID-19 vaccination.

Methods

The study was conducted at three U.S. dental schools and a medical school using an online survey which assessed (1) previous immunization behavior; (2) attitudes and perception of COVID-19 vaccines; (3) personal experience with COVID-19.

Results

248 DS and 167 MS completed the survey. 45% of DS and 23% of MS were hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. In bivariate analyses, MS were 2.7 times more likely than DS to take the vaccine (OR 2.74, 95% CI 1.76, 4.31, p=0.0001). Although DS were more likely than MS (p<0.05) to have had COVID-19 and to personally know someone who had COVID-19, MS were more likely to agree with mandates and trust information about the vaccine. In multivariable analyses, after controlling for demographic variables, experience with COVID-19 and personal vaccination behaviors, being a MS or DS was no longer predictive of willingness to get the vaccine.

Conclusions

These results highlight the need for profession-specific curriculum designed to enhance student knowledge about the vaccine and vaccine counseling skills.