Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy among Thai pregnant women and their spouses: a prospective survey

Abstract

Plain language summary Vaccination is an important tool to fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this study, we investigated the rates and associated factors of accepting attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy among Thai pregnant women and their spouses. The actual rate of vaccination during pregnancy among the enrolled women was also evaluated. We recruited 176 Thai pregnant woman/husband dyads who attended our antenatal care clinic between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2021. The results showed that 60.8% of pregnant women and 61.4% of husbands had accepting attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. Having a husband who favored COVID-19 vaccination for his wife was a significant factor for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among pregnant women, whereas confidence in vaccine safety was a significant predictor of the husband’s willingness to have his wife vaccinated for COVID-19 during pregnancy. The majority (96.2%) of the women who accepted vaccination were vaccinated against COVID-19 during pregnancy. On the other hand, 76.1% of the women who were initially reluctant to be vaccinated ultimately received COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy. The actual rate of being vaccinated among the enrolled women was 88.3%. Given the results of this study, physicians, hospital administrators, and policymakers should focus on those who show vaccine hesitancy or refusal and implement intensive interventions because there is a possibility to change their attitudes if they have more knowledge and gain more trust in the vaccines.

Keywords

• Coronavirus disease 2019
• COVID-19 vaccine
• Pregnancy
• Pregnant women
• SARS-CoV-2
• Spouses