Reported COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage and Associated Factors among Members of Athens Medical Association: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study

There are limited data on the prevalence and determinants of COVID-19 vaccination coverage among physicians. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based, online study was conducted among the members of the Athens Medical Association (I.S.A.) over the period 25 February to 13 March 2021. All members of I.S.A. were invited to participate in the anonymous online survey. A structured, anonymous questionnaire was used. Overall, 1993 physicians participated in the survey. The reported vaccination coverage was 85.3%. The main reasons of no vaccination were pending vaccination appointment followed by safety concerns. Participants being informed about the COVID-19 vaccines by social media resulted in lower COVID-19 vaccination coverage than health workers being informed by other sources. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that no fear over COVID-19 vaccination-related side effects, history of influenza vaccination for flu season 2020-2021, and the perception that the information on COVID-19 vaccination from the national public health authorities is reliable, were independent factors of reported COVID-19 vaccination coverage. Our results demonstrate a considerable improvement of the COVID-19 vaccination uptake among Greek physicians. The finding that participants reported high reliability of the information related to COVID-19 vaccination provided by the Greek public health authorities is an opportunity which should be broadly exploited by policymakers in order to combat vaccination hesitancy, and further improve COVID-19 vaccination uptake and coverage among physicians/HCWs, and the general population.

Automated summary

The COVID-19 vaccination coverage among Greek physicians reached 85.3%, with the main reasons for non-vaccination being pending appointments and safety concerns. Physicians informed about COVID-19 vaccines through social media had lower vaccination coverage compared to those informed by other sources. Factors like lack of fear of vaccination side effects, history of influenza vaccination, and trust in information from national health authorities were independently associated with reported vaccination coverage.