Nearly One Third of U.S. Healthcare Workers Hesitant to Get COVID-19 Vaccines

NEJM Journal Watch

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and André Sofair, MD, MPH

Some 18% of U.S. healthcare workers say they do not plan on getting vaccinated against COVID-19, and another 12% have not yet decided whether they will get vaccinated, according to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post. Respondents’ main concerns include potential side effects and the vaccines’ newness.

Among the other findings, from over 1300 frontline healthcare workers surveyed across the U.S. between February and March:

• When broken down by race, 18% of white respondents, 28% of Black respondents, and 11% of Hispanic respondents said they did not plan to get vaccinated.
• Overall, 48% of respondents were unvaccinated (had not received at least one dose).
• Some 57% of white healthcare workers reported receiving at least one dose — versus 39% of Black workers and 44% of Hispanic workers.
• Over half of Black respondents — and about a third of white and Hispanic respondents — said they weren’t confident that the vaccines had been appropriately tested for safety and effectiveness.

As of Sunday, roughly 25% of people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to CDC data. Some 13% overall have been fully vaccinated. For adults aged 65 and older, the numbers are much higher: 69% have received at least one dose, and 42% are fully vaccinated.