Attitudes of Patients with Cancer towards Vaccinations—Results of Online Survey with Special Focus on the Vaccination against COVID-19

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Abstract

Recently developed COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce the risk of severe coronavirus disease, which is essential in the particularly vulnerable cancer patient population. There is a growing anti-vaccine concern that may affect the success of the fight against the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. To evaluate opinions and attitudes toward vaccination, we conducted an anonymous online survey among Polish patients diagnosed with cancer. We analyzed how socio-demographic factors, type of cancer, comorbidities, previous influenza vaccinations, and information sources affect the general willingness and opinions about vaccinations, emphasizing vaccination against COVID-19. Six hundred thirty-five patients (80.2% female) participated in the study. A positive attitude towards vaccination was presented by 73.7%, neutral by 17.8%, while negative by 8.5%. Willingness to get vaccinated was declared by 60.3%, 23.5% were unwilling, and 16.2% were undecided. Significant predictors of willingness were education, marital status, active anti-cancer treatment, previous influenza vaccination, and positive attitude towards vaccinations. Patients with cancer have concerns regarding safety, effectiveness, and the process of development of the COVID-19 vaccine. Overall, patients with cancer present positive attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination but required sufficient information on its efficacy and side effects.

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Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine

Fernando P Polack, Stephen J. Thomas, Nicholas R.E. Kitchin … (2023)

Abstract Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the resulting coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) have afflicted tens of millions of people in a worldwide pandemic. Safe and effective vaccines are needed urgently. Methods In an ongoing multinational, placebo-controlled, observer-blinded, pivotal efficacy trial, we randomly assigned persons 16 years of age or older in a 1:1 ratio to receive two doses, 21 days apart, of either placebo or the BNT162b2 vaccine candidate (30 μg per dose). BNT162b2 is a lipid nanoparticle–formulated, nucleoside-modified RNA vaccine that encodes a prefusion stabilized, membrane-anchored SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike protein. The primary end points were efficacy of the vaccine against laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 and safety. Results A total of 43,548 participants underwent randomization, of whom 43,448 received injections: 21,720 with BNT162b2 and 21,728 with placebo. There were 8 cases of Covid-19 with onset at least 7 days after the second dose among participants assigned to receive BNT162b2 and 162 cases among those assigned to placebo; BNT162b2 was 95% effective in preventing Covid-19 (95% credible interval, 90.3 to 97.6). Similar vaccine efficacy (generally 90 to 100%) was observed across subgroups defined by age, sex, race, ethnicity, baseline body-mass index, and the presence of coexisting conditions. Among 10 cases of severe Covid-19 with onset after the first dose, 9 occurred in placebo recipients and 1 in a BNT162b2 recipient. The safety profile of BNT162b2 was characterized by short-term, mild-to-moderate pain at the injection site, fatigue, and headache. The incidence of serious adverse events was low and was similar in the vaccine and placebo groups. Conclusions A two-dose regimen of BNT162b2 conferred 95% protection against Covid-19 in persons 16 years of age or older. Safety over a median of 2 months was similar to that of other viral vaccines. (Funded by BioNTech and Pfizer; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04368728.)

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Vaccine hesitancy: the next challenge in the fight against COVID-19

Amiel Dror, Netanel Eisenbach, Shahar Taiber … (2020)

Vaccine hesitancy remains a barrier to full population inoculation against highly infectious diseases. Coincident with the rapid developments of COVID-19 vaccines globally, concerns about the safety of such a vaccine could contribute to vaccine hesitancy. We analyzed 1941 anonymous questionnaires completed by healthcare workers and members of the general Israeli population, regarding acceptance of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Our results indicate that healthcare staff involved in the care of COVID-19 positive patients, and individuals considering themselves at risk of disease, were more likely to self-report acquiescence to COVID-19 vaccination if and when available. In contrast, parents, nurses, and medical workers not caring for SARS-CoV-2 positive patients expressed higher levels of vaccine hesitancy. Interventional educational campaigns targeted towards populations at risk of vaccine hesitancy are therefore urgently needed to combat misinformation and avoid low inoculation rates.

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Attitudes towards vaccines and intention to vaccinate against COVID-19: Implications for public health communications

Elise Paul, Andrew Steptoe, Daisy Fancourt (2020)

Background Negative attitudes towards vaccines and an uncertainty or unwillingness to receive vaccinations are major barriers to managing the COVID-19 pandemic in the long-term. We estimate predictors of four domains of negative attitudes towards vaccines and identify groups most at risk of uncertainty and unwillingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in a large sample of UK adults. Methods Data were cross-sectional and from 32,361 adults in the UCL COVID-19 Social Study. Ordinary least squares regression analyses examined the impact of socio-demographic and COVID-19 related factors on four types of negative vaccine attitudes: mistrust of vaccine benefit, worries about unforeseen effects, concerns about commercial profiteering, and preference for natural immunity. Multinomial regression examined the impact of socio-demographic and COVID-19 related factors, negative vaccine attitudes, and prior vaccine behaviour on uncertainty and unwillingness to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Findings 16% of respondents displayed high levels of mistrust about vaccines across one or more domains. Distrustful attitudes towards vaccination were higher amongst individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds, with lower levels of education, lower annual income, poor knowledge of COVID-19, and poor compliance with government COVID-19 guidelines. Overall, 14% of respondents reported unwillingness to receive a vaccine for COVID-19, whilst 23% were unsure. The largest predictors of both COVID-19 vaccine uncertainty and refusal were low-income groups (< £16,000, a year), having not received a flu vaccine last year, poor adherence to COVID-19 government guidelines, female gender, and living with children. Amongst vaccine attitudes, intermediate to high levels of mistrust of vaccine benefit and concerns about future unforeseen side effects were the most important determinants of both uncertainty and unwillingness to vaccinate against COVID-19. Interpretation Negative attitudes towards vaccines are a major public health concern in the UK. General mistrust in vaccines and concerns about future side effects in particular will be barriers to achieving population immunity to COVID-19 through vaccination. Public health messaging should be tailored to address these concerns and specifically to women, ethnic minorities, and people with lower levels of education and incomes. Funding The Nuffield Foundation [WEL/FR-000022583], the MARCH Mental Health Network funded by the Cross-Disciplinary Mental Health Network Plus initiative supported by UK Research and Innovation [ES/S002588/1], and the Wellcome Trust [221400/Z/20/Z and 205407/Z/16/Z].

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Scott Anthony: Role: Academic Editor

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Vaccines (Basel)

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Vaccines (Basel)

Journal ID (publisher-id): vaccines

Title: Vaccines

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Electronic): 2076-393X

Publication date (Electronic): 21 April 2021

Publication date Collection: May 2021

Volume: 9

Issue: 5

Electronic Location Identifier: 411

Affiliations

[1 ]Laboratory of Centre for Preclinical Research, Department of Experimental and Clinical Physiology, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland; anna.brodziak@ 123456wum.edu.pl

[2 ]Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, 02-781 Warsaw, Poland

[3 ]Department of Oncology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 11-228 Olsztyn, Poland; dawidsigorski@ 123456wp.pl

[4 ]Department of Oncology and Immuno-Oncology, Warmian-Masurian Cancer Center of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration’s Hospital, 11-228 Olsztyn, Poland

[5 ]Department of Hematology, Transplantation and Internal Medicine, University Clinical Centre, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland; malgorzata.osmola@ 123456wum.edu.pl

[6 ]Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Department of Oncology, European Health Centre, 05-400 Otwock, Poland; wilk.m@ 123456onet.eu

[7 ]Department of Clinical Oncology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, 31-115 Kraków, Poland; a_gawlik_urban@ 123456pwsztar.edu.pl

[8 ]Subcarpathian Cancer Center, 35-055 Rzeszow, Poland; kiszka_joanna@ 123456wp.pl

[9 ]Department of Clinical Oncology, Saint John of Dukla Oncology Centre of the Lublin Region, 20-090 Lublin, Poland; k.machulska@ 123456interia.pl

[10 ]Department of Soft Tissue/Bone Sarcoma and Melanoma, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, 02-781 Warsaw, Poland

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[* ]Correspondence: pawel.sobczuk@ 123456pib-nio.pl

Author information

Anna Brodziak https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0017-1040

Dawid Sigorski https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4799-9611

Michał Wilk https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0261-8133

Katarzyna Machulska-Ciuraj https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5320-9321

Article

Publisher ID: vaccines-09-00411

DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9050411

PMC ID: 8142983

PubMed ID: 33919048

SO-VID: 4454bc30-2d72-46ad-bc71-a1d087c8f65f

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Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Attitudes of Patients with Cancer towards Vaccinations—Results of Online Survey with Special Focus on the Vaccination against COVID-19

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Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19

Most cited references 35

Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine

Vaccine hesitancy: the next challenge in the fight against COVID-19

Attitudes towards vaccines and intention to vaccinate against COVID-19: Implications for public health communications

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