30% of Pregnant People “Somewhat to Very Likely” to Get COVID-19 Vaccine and Only 10% Report They are “Very Well Informed” about Vaccine
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LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–New data released today from Pregistry, a global leader in the development and conduct of studies to assess the safety of medications and vaccines when used during pregnancy, shows low levels of vaccine understanding and vaccination acceptance globally among pregnant people. Acceptance differed by region, race and ethnicity, age, and education. The study was conducted by Pregistry’s CEO, Dr. Diego Wyszynski and a team of collaborators around the world.
“Acceptability of COVID-19 Vaccines in an International Sample of Pregnant Women”
There has been an unprecedented global effort to produce safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19. However, COVID-19 vaccines have not been accepted by a large percentage of the general population in the U.S. or globally, especially among those excluded from the clinical trials of potential vaccines such as pregnant people. Published in the Journal of Gynecology & Reproductive Medicine, “Acceptability of COVID-19 Vaccines in an International Sample of Pregnant Women” aims to identify predictors of vaccine acceptance in an international sample of pregnant people.
The anonymous, online, cross-sectional survey of 5,356 pregnant people in 64 countries between May and June 2020 was hosted on the Pregistry platform and made available in 12 languages, with respondents sought through a variety of social media platforms and parenting forums. Results showed that, while vaccine acceptance increased as perceived vaccine efficacy increased, a majority of the population is still unconvinced. If the vaccine were at least 90% effective, 30% of the sample of pregnant people indicated that they would be ‘very likely’ to get vaccinated, 11% ‘fairly likely’ and 12% ‘somewhat likely’.
Only ten percent of respondents felt that they were ‘very well informed’ about COVID-19 vaccines, while 8% were ‘very confident’ that these vaccines are safe and/or effective. More than 50% held the opinion that vaccination was ‘very important’ for their country and that the majority of the population should be vaccinated. College graduation status and residing in the countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America were associated with increased vaccine acceptance. In addition, White Hispanic, Asian, Black/Black Hispanic, and Hispanic participants had increased odds of accepting the vaccine compared with those who self-identified as White; however, this increase only held in North America for Hispanic participants.
“This fairly low acceptance rate suggests a need for targeted public health campaigns that can increase confidence among pregnant people in COVID-19 vaccine efficacy,” said Dr. Wyszynski. “With a better understanding of who is concerned about COVID-19 vaccination efficacy, including pregnant people around the globe, and what their concerns are, we can work together to improve global vaccination rates and slow the spread of COVID-19.”
The full version of this study is available in the Journal of Gynecology & Reproductive Medicine. The study was sponsored by Pregistry, an independent research institution, as part of its mission-centric work in helping to create a world where all pregnant people and their healthcare providers have access to high-quality data about the reproductive risks of medicines and vaccines.
