Demographic factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine perceptions amongst healthcare and law enforcement workers

Introduction: The emergence of COVID-19 and the development of subsequent vaccines have both significantly impacted the lives and work of essential workers such as those who are healthcare, first responders, and law enforcement. Data has shown that these groups are all at a higher occupational risk for COVID-19 exposure, and therefore public health policy has prioritized the vaccination of this group, including mandating vaccines in this population. However, the perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines in this group are not clear and require examination.
Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to examine the psychosocial factors associated with vaccine perceptions amongst healthcare and law enforcement professionals. An online survey was distributed to (n=216) between May 5, 2021, and August 25, 2021, and analyzed using a Chi-squared test for independence and Spearman correlation coefficient test.
Results: It was found that race was significantly associated with four statements regarding COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and perceptions, gender identity was not associated with any statements, ethnicity was associated with two statements, and education level was associated with nine statements. Further analysis using a Spearman correlation coefficient found education to be associated with one statement regarding perceived safety (p=0.006) and another statement regarding perceived benefits (p=0.001).
Conclusion: These findings are largely preliminary, but they provide insight into psychosocial factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine perception. It was found that all factors except for gender identity were associated with COVID-19 vaccine attitudes among healthcare and law enforcement professionals. Additional analysis found that higher education level was associated with higher perceived benefits and lower perceived barriers regarding COVID-19 vaccines.