Covid-19 vaccines status, acceptance and hesitancy among maintenance hemodialysis patients : a cross-sectional study and the implications for Pakistan and beyond

Amjad, Zara and Maryam, Iqra and Munir, Maria and Salman, Muhammad and Baraka, Mohamed A. and Mustafa, Zia Ul and Khan, Yusra Habib and Mallhi, Tauqeer Hussain and Hasan, Syed Shahzad and Meyer, Johanna C. and Godman, Brian (2023) Covid-19 vaccines status, acceptance and hesitancy among maintenance hemodialysis patients : a cross-sectional study and the implications for Pakistan and beyond. Vaccines, 11 (5). 904. ISSN 2076-393X (https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11050904)

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Abstract

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy continues to be a widespread problem in Pakistan due to various conspiracy beliefs, myths and misconceptions. Since the hemodialysis population is at a higher risk of contracting infections, we sought to investigate the current COVID-19 immunization status and reasons for any vaccine hesitancy among these patients in Pakistan. This cross-sectional study was conducted among maintenance hemodialysis patients at six hospitals in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Data were collected anonymously using a questionnaire. A total of 399 hemodialysis patients took part in the survey, the majority of them were male (56%) and aged 45–64 years. A calculated 62.4% of the patients reported receiving at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of those vaccinated (249), 73.5% had received two doses and 16.9% had received a booster dose. The most common reasons for vaccination were “being aware they were at high risk” (89.6%), “fear of getting infected” (89.2%) and “willingness to fight against COVID-19-pandemic” (83.9%). Of the 150 patients who had not yet been vaccinated, only 10 showed a willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The major reasons for refusal included “COVID-19 is not a real problem” (75%), the “corona vaccine is a conspiracy (72.1%)” and “I don’t need the vaccine” (60.7%). Our study revealed that only 62% patients receiving hemodialysis were partially or completely vaccinated against COVID-19. Consequently, there is a need to initiate aggressive approaches to educate this high-risk population in order to address their concerns with vaccine safety and efficacy as well as correct current myths and misconceptions to improve the COVID-19 immunization status in this population.

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