COVID-19 vaccine uptake, vaccine hesitancy and medical mistrust among reproductive-aged women in Jamaica

Little is known about COVID-19 vaccine uptake, vaccine hesitancy and medical mistrust among reproductive-aged women in Jamaica.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional, web-based survey of a convenience sample of reproductive-aged women (patients, providers, and staff) at a tertiary care hospital in Jamaica from February 1- 8, 2022 to assess COVID-19 vaccine receipt, hesitancy (defined as a delay or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccine services) and medical mistrust (e.g., “I don’t trust the COVID-19 vaccine”). We employed multivariable robust Poisson regression to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for vaccination, hesitancy and mistrust in pregnant versus non-pregnant women, adjusting for age, education and comorbidities.

Results

98 reproductive-aged women had complete survey responses available for the time period February 1-2, 2022. 42% were pregnant and 58% were non-pregnant. Pregnant women were younger than non-pregnant women [M(SD) = 30 (±4.8) and 36 (±7.2), respectively]. Vaccine uptake among pregnant women was 20% compared with 78% among non-pregnant women, (aPR=0.47, 95%CI=0.28 – 0.77; p=0.003). Pregnant women were more likely to agree with several mistrust statements compared with non-pregnant women including “I don’t trust the COVID-19 vaccine” (aPR=3.13, 95%CI=1.37 – 7.16; p=0.01).

Conclusion

Preliminary findings suggest that pregnant women in Jamaica may be less likely to get vaccinated compared with non-pregnant reproductive-aged women. Pregnant women may also have higher levels of mistrust. Rapid dissemination of pregnancy-related COVID-19 vaccine safety data, by trusted sources, may lead to improved vaccine uptake in this group.