COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Through the Lived Experiences of Health Care Personnel: Policy and Legal Considerations.

Purpose: To investigate whether coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination campaigns targeted at health care personnel (HCP) in the United States have addressed the lived experiences of HCP on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and to analyze policy and legal considerations for improving COVID-19 vaccine uptake among HCP. Methods: We conducted a literature and policy review to explore the lived experiences of different occupational groups of HCP on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic-physicians, nurses, trainees, and nonclinical essential workers-in relation to ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. Finally, we discuss policy and legal considerations to improve the state of HCP COVID-19 vaccine uptake as the pandemic progresses. Results: COVID-19 vaccination campaigns have not achieved consistent high uptake among HCP for many reasons, including vaccine hesitancy, personal, professional considerations, and equity-rooted challenges. Conclusion: HCPs lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic reveal meaningful impediments to their COVID-19 vaccine uptake. We suggest that health care systems minimize inequity inherent in existing vaccination campaigns by providing financial and social support to HCP to raise HCP COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
Competing Interests: R.G.A. and Z.B. have no conflicting financial or personal interests or relationships that influenced this article. D.R.R. owns stock in GSK, a vaccine manufacturer that may, at some point, have a COVID-19 vaccine (but does not at present) and served as an unpaid member of Moderna's ethics group, advising on allocating the vaccine. Views and conclusions expressed in this article represent those of the authors alone and do not reflect positions of current or past funders and employers. All authors meet all four criteria for authorship in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations. All authors confirm that they had full access to all the data in the study and accept responsibility to submit for publication.
(© Rachel Gur-Arie et al., 2021; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.)