Journal-based CME Course: COVID-19 Vaccination Preferences of University Students and Staff in Hong Kong

Activity ID

12690

Expires

May 31, 2025

Format Type

Journal-based

CME Credit

1

Fee

$30

CME Provider: JAMA Network Open

Description of CME Course

Importance  COVID-19 has required universities to rapidly develop vaccination policies for students and staff, yet little is known about the preferences of these individuals toward vaccination.

Objective  To quantify student and staff preferences for COVID-19 vaccination at a university in Hong Kong.

Design, Setting, and Participants  A cross-sectional online survey study was conducted from July 20 to September 21, 2021, before the announcement of a campus-wide vaccine mandate. A survey of 42 451 eligible university students and staff used discrete-choice experiment methods to quantify 7 attributes of COVID-19 vaccination: risk of a mild or moderate adverse event after vaccination, risk of a severe adverse event after vaccination, efficacy against COVID-19 infection, efficacy against severe manifestation of COVID-19 infection, duration of protection after vaccination, incentive for completing vaccination, and out-of-pocket costs.

Main Outcomes and Measures  A mixed logit regression model was used to estimate the preferences of attributes for COVID-19 vaccines and marginal willingness to pay (mWTP) adjusted for background characteristics, role, vaccination, and COVID-19 infection status of family or friends, adverse event status after vaccination among family and friends of participants, and scenario block.

Results  Among 42 451 eligible university students and staff invited, 3423 individuals completed the survey (mean [SD] age, 27.1 [9.9] years; 2053 [60.0%] women). Participants included 2506 students (73.2%) and 917 staff (26.8%), with a response rate of 8.1%. Quarantine-free travel was preferred (β = 0.86; 95% CI, 0.72-0.99; mWTP: $235.9; 95% CI, $190.3-$294.2), followed by efficacy against any COVID-19 infection (β = 0.30; 95% CI, 0.29-0.32; mWTP: $84.1; 95% CI, $71.8-$100.8), against severe manifestation of COVID-19 infection (β = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.24-0.27; mWTP: $69.7; 95% CI, $465-$653), and risk of severe adverse events following vaccination (β = −0.24; 95% CI, −0.27 to −0.21; mWTP: −$66.8; 95% CI, −$81.5 to −$55.3). Participants were less concerned about protection duration (β = 0.17; 95% CI, 0.15-0.18; mWTP: $46.0; 95% CI, $38.6-$56.2) and risk of mild to moderate adverse events (β = −0.12; 95% CI, −0.13 to −0.10; mWTP: −$32.7; 95% CI, −$41.2 to −$26.4).

Conclusions and Relevance  Preference of all attributes were significant and were considered important by the participants for vaccine decision-making. Insights drawn could assist policy makers in future vaccination decisions, such as campus vaccine mandate and requirement of a third dose.

Disclaimers

1. This activity is accredited by the American Medical Association.
2. This activity is free to AMA members.

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