Background: Clinicians in intensive care units (ICUs) have been prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination. We aim to understand the reasons behind vaccination refusal, and assess preferences for COVID-19 vaccines among Chinese ICU clinicians.
Research design and methods: ICU clinicians throughout China's mainland were contacted to participate in an online survey. We compared concerns with vaccination status, and through a discrete choice experiment (DCE) assessed preferences for vaccines in terms of effectiveness, risk of adverse reactions, duration of immunity, and whether coworkers have been vaccinated.
Results: Among 11,951 ICU respondents from 252 prefecture-level regions, vaccination coverage was 75.4%, with an additional 9.2% not vaccinated but intending to, and 16.1% not vaccinated and not intending to. ICU clinicians not intending to be vaccinated significantly expressed more concerns about the speed of vaccine development (30.1%) and adverse reactions (65.9%). In the DCE, the only significant difference in preferences of a COVID-19 vaccine was for safety, with those not intending to have a stronger preference for a vaccine with fewer adverse reactions (OR = 4.49), compared to those already vaccinated (OR = 2.90) or those intending to vaccinate (OR = 3.46).
Conclusion: Increasing vaccination coverage among Chinese ICU clinicians will require strong norms surrounding vaccination and transparency about safety information.
Keywords: COVID-19; discrete choice experiment; intensive care unit; vaccination uptake; vaccine attribute.