Vaccination Barriers for Adults

The growth of childhood vaccination in India has been increased over the past two decades as >25% of deaths due to infections are prevented with the help of vaccines. Vaccination is also recommended for adults where adult vaccination is mostly ignored in India. In India, childhood vaccination is considered the main priority, WHO has also issued guidelines for childhood vaccination. Generally, adults have less susceptible to traditional infectious agents but the probability of exposure to the infectious agents has increased. SO the problem of adult immunization should be considered. Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) in adults are more neglected. There are many reasons for the causes of the VPDs in adults. These can be prevented by immunization among adults. Each country should provide a proper guideline for adult vaccination. When it comes to India, our country doesn’t have proper guidelines for Adult immunization. As to decrease the morbidity and mortality in the life of a person the vaccine uptake for the immunization must be ensured. This article mainly focuses on the vaccine-preventable disease in India with the role of adult immunizations and the steps to ensure the betterment of the vaccine uptake among the adults.

Vaccination Against COVID-19: A Longitudinal Trans-Theoretical Study to Determine Factors that Predict Intentions and Behavior

Background Despite the clear benefits of vaccination, their uptake against common infectious diseases is suboptimal. In December 2020, vaccines against COVID-19 became available. Purpose To determine factors that predict who will take the COVID-19 vaccine based on a conceptual model. Methods An online survey was administered twice: prior to public vaccination, and after vaccinations were available. Participants were 309 Israelis with initial data and 240 at follow-up. Baseline questionnaires measured intentions to be vaccinated and hypothesized predictors clustered in four categories: background, COVID-19, vaccination, and social factors. Self-reported vaccination uptake was measured at follow-up. Results Sixty-two percent of the sample reported having been vaccinated. Intentions were strongly associated with vaccination uptake and mediated the effects of other predictors on behavior. Eighty-six percent of the variance in vaccination intentions was explained by attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination, regret for having declined vaccination, trust in vaccination, vaccination barriers, past flu vaccination, perceived social norms, and COVID-19 representations. Conclusions Beliefs related directly to the COVID-19 vaccine explained most of the variance in intentions to vaccinate, which in turn predicted vaccination uptake.

AB1158 VACCINATION BARRIERS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATIC DISEASES

Background:Patients with rheumatic diseases (RD) are at increased risk of infections, attributed to the underlying RD, comorbidities and immunosuppressive therapy, including glucocorticoids, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, etc. (1). While many infectious diseases can generally be prevented by vaccines, immunization rates in this specific patient population remain suboptimal (2). Despite being recognized as one of the most successful public health measures, vaccination is perceived as unsafe and unnecessary by a growing number of individuals. Lack of confidence in vaccines is now considered a threat to the success of vaccination programs (3).Objectives:To describe the main causes of non-vaccination in patients with RD.Methods:A self-questionnaire was applied to a sample of patients with RD in the rheumatology clinic of the university hospital “Dr. Jose Eleuterio Gonzalez” in Monterrey, Mexico between September and December 2019. The questionnaire evaluated demographic characteristics (age, gender, diagnosis) and the vaccination status for Influenza (last year), pneumococcal (last 5 years), Herpes zoster (ever), Human papillomavirus (any dose) and Hepatitis B (any dose). It also includes a question asking: If you didn’t receive any of the previous vaccines, what was the reason? (multiple-choice are shown in Table 2). Results are shown in frequencies and percentages.Table 2.Vaccination barriersN=82If you didn’t receive any of the previous vaccines,what was the reason? n (%)1)Did not was recommended22 (26.8)2) Lack of availability21 (25.6)3) Vaccines don’t work13 (15.8)4) Fear of adverse events8 (9.7)5) Previous adverse event3 (3.6)6) Other reason- Own decision8 (9.7)- Disinformation7 (8.5)Results:102 patients were evaluated: Mean age was 51.27 (SD 14.68) years; 84 (82.4%) were females; 71 (69.6%) had rheumatoid arthritis, 13 (12.7%) had systemic lupus erythematosus, 6 (5.8%) had other autoimmune diseases and 12 (11.8%) had osteoarthritis. The rate of vaccination for Influenza was 49 (48%), for pneumococcal 25 (24.5%), for Herpes zoster 5 (4.9%), for Human papillomavirus 9 (8.8%), for Hepatitis B 14 (13.7%) (Table 1). 82 (80.3%) patients reported some barriers in vaccination, from these: 22 (26.8%) did not get the recommendation from the rheumatologist, 21 (25.6%) did not found available the vaccine, 13 (15.8%) believes that vaccines don’t work, 8 (9.7%) had fear of adverse events, 3 (3.6%) reported previous adverse events, and 15 (18.2%) reported other reasons, that we classified as own decision 8 (9.7%) and disinformation 7 (8.5%) (Table 2).Table 1.Demographic characteristicsN= 102Age, years, mean (SD)51.27 (14.68)Female, n (%)84 (82.4)Diagnosis, n (%)-RA71 (69.6)-SLE13 (12.7)-OA12 (11.8)-Other AID6 (5.8)Conclusion:The main barriers in vaccination of rheumatic patients reported were the lack of availability of the indicated vaccines and the medical and patient disinformation. This problem must be combated to ensure the complete vaccination of rheumatic patients.References:[1]Ann Rheum Dis. 2020;79:39-52.[2]J Rheumatol. 2019;46(7):751-754[3]Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2013;9(8):1763-73.Disclosure of Interests:None declared