Demographic Differences in COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Stanford Healthcare Workers

Despite the widespread availability of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, 30% of
healthcare personnel (HCP) were still not vaccinated by the end of December, 2021. The purpose
of my thesis was to identify characteristics of hospital-based healthcare personnel that are
associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and with changing one’s mind about getting
vaccinated; knowledge of the types of healthcare personnel who are vaccine hesitant will help
our public health system better address gaps in HCP vaccine coverage. I analyzed surveys from
over 15,000 hospital-based HCP from Stanford Healthcare in December 2020 to understand
employee intentions with respect to COVID-19 vaccination. I found that female healthcare
workers, Black / African American healthcare workers, and younger healthcare workers were
more likely to delay or refuse the vaccine. HCP from counties of high social vulnerability and
HCP that interface less with patients also showed higher rates of vaccine hesitancy and higher
rates of changing their minds about getting vaccinated. Furthermore, vaccine newness and fear of
side effects were the most cited reasons for vaccine hesitancy. Healthcare workers in sub-groups
with high rates of vaccine hesitancy should be specially considered in the design of future
vaccination campaigns for hospital workers.