Factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among medical laboratory workers in South Africa.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical laboratory workers had a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 compared to the general population. Aim: To assess the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among medical laboratory workers in South Africa in 2022. Setting: In South Africa among the healthcare worker population at the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) in 2022. Methods: Descriptive statistics was used to identify the reasons for COVID-19 acceptance. We examined the association between COVID-19 acceptance and other socio-demographic factors using logistic regression analyses to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among NHLS workers was 82.8%. Most of the participants reported that their reason for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was mainly to protect their family (62.6%) and to protect themselves (50.2%), and they perceived the vaccine to be safe (40.7%). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was mainly because the participants reported that there was very little research done on the vaccine (41.4%) and some were worried about the vaccine side effects (31.4%). Increased COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was associated with age, 40-49 years (OR: 5.35 [95% CI: 1.42-20.10]) and 50-59 years (OR: 11.0 [95% CI: 1.63-74.92]). Decreased COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was associated with black people (OR: 0.15 [95% CI: 0.03-0.89]). Conclusion: The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among medical laboratory workers was notably high. Contribution: This study contributes to the body of knowledge on vaccine acceptance and hesitancy.