Characterization of vaccine confidence among teachers in British Columbia, Canada: A population-based survey

C Sarai Racey; Robine Donken; Ellie Fox; Imogen Porter; Julie A Bettinger; Jennifer Mark; Lizl Bonifacio; Meena Dawar; Mike Gagel; Rakel Kling; Silvina Mema; Hana Mitchell; Ian Roe; Gina Ogilvie; Manish Sadarangani

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0288107

Characterization of vaccine confidence among teachers in British Columbia, Canada: A population-based survey

PLoS One. 2023 Jul 12;18(7):e0288107. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288107. eCollection 2023.

Authors

C Sarai Racey^{1

2}, Robine Donken^{1

2

3}, Ellie Fox^{1

2}, Imogen Porter³, Julie A Bettinger^{3

4}, Jennifer Mark³, Lizl Bonifacio³, Meena Dawar^{1

5}, Mike Gagel⁶, Rakel Kling⁶, Silvina Mema^{1

7}, Hana Mitchell^{3

4

8}, Ian Roe⁹, Gina Ogilvie^{1

2

9}, Manish Sadarangani^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
² Women's Health Research Institute, British Columbia Women's Hospital and Health Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
³ Vaccine Evaluation Center, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁵ Vancouver Costal Health Authority, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁶ Northern Health Authority, Prince George, BC, Canada.
⁷ Interior Health Authority, Kelowna, BC, Canada.
⁸ BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁹ BC Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Abstract

Objectives: Teachers are an important occupational group to consider when addressing vaccine confidence and uptake for school-aged children due to their proximate role within school-based immunization programs. The objectives of this study were to characterize and identify sociodemographic factors associated with vaccine confidence and describe teachers' knowledge of and perceived role in the school-based immunization program, with the aim of informing public health policy and identifying opportunities for supporting teachers in their role in school-based immunization programs.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of elementary and secondary public-school teachers in British Columbia was completed from August to November 2020. Respondents provided sociodemographic information, as well as past vaccination experience, vaccine knowledge, and perceived role in the school-based immunization program. Vaccine confidence was measured using the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS). Characteristics associated with the VHS sub-scales 'lack of confidence in vaccines' and 'perceived risk of vaccines', were explored using ANOVA. Descriptive analysis was completed for teachers' perceived role in the immunization program.

Results: 5,095 surveys were included in this analysis. Overall vaccine confidence was high, with vaccine hesitancy being related to the perceived risk of vaccines rather than a lack of confidence in the effectiveness of vaccines. ANOVA found significant differences for both VHS-sub-scales based on sociodemographic factors, however, the strength of the association was generally small. High general vaccine knowledge and never having delayed or refused a vaccine in the past were associated with higher vaccine confidence. Overall, teachers reported a lack of clarity in their role within the school-based immunization program.

Conclusions: This large population-based observational study of teachers highlights a number of key engagement opportunities between public health and the education sector. Using a validated scale, we found that overall, teachers are highly accepting of vaccines, and well situated as potential partners with public health to address vaccine hesitancy.

Copyright: © 2023 Racey et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication types

Observational Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

British Columbia
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Data Collection
Educational Personnel*
Humans
Vaccines*

Substances

Vaccines

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant from the BC Immunization Committee that was awarded to MS, MD, MG, RK, SM, IR, RD, HM, GO. CSR was funded by a fellowship from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR). RD has received fellowships from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and the Canadian Immunization Research Network. MS is supported via salary awards from the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.