COVID-19 Vaccination Intention in a Community Cohort in Ponce, Puerto Rico

Abstract

As of January 20, 2022, > 247,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 3,600 deaths were reported in Puerto Rico (PR). We interviewed participants aged ≥ 14 years in the Communities Organized to Prevent Arboviruses (COPA) study, a community-based cohort in PR, about COVID-19 vaccine intention from November 12, 2020, to June 25, 2021. We used univariate and adjusted analyses to identify participant characteristics associated with vaccine intention. Among 1,542 respondents, the median age was 37 years (interquartile range 23-45) and 914 (59%) were female. Most participants (83%) reported a willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The most common reason for vaccine hesitancy was concern about the safety or side effects (64%). Willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine was associated with a later interview date, higher household income, previous COVID-19 diagnosis among household members, COVID-19 risk perception, influenza vaccine uptake, dengue vaccine intention, and general positive perceptions of vaccines. While parents with minors (< 21 years old) were less likely to report vaccine intention for themselves than participants without minor children, we observed similar characteristics associated with parents' willingness to vaccinate their children. Overall, COVID-19 vaccine intention was high among COPA participants. It is important that public health messaging in PR addresses COVID-19 vaccine safety and possible side effects.

Figure 1.

Reasons Communities Organized to Prevent Arboviruses (COPA) participants would not or were unsure if they would get an authorized COVID-19 vaccine that was free or low-cost ($10 or less), November 2020 to June 2021 (N = 266)*. *Excludes two participants who did not provide a reason for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Participants could give more than one reason. This figure appears in color at www.ajtmh.org.