COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy high among injecting drug users

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-02-21 03:00

Australia; NSW; VIC; WA; TAS

Around half of the injecting drug users surveyed as part of a national illicit drug monitoring system reported being hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Australian research. The authors say key concerns were vaccine safety and side effects. They say this level of hesitancy was substantially higher than that of the general population at a similar time, and warrants a targeted strategy to maximise vaccine uptake as this group of people may be at higher risk of COVID-19 transmission and more severe negative health outcomes.

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Journal/
conference: Drug and Alcohol Review

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), The University of New South Wales, Burnet Institute, Curtin University, Monash University, Kirby Institute, University of Tasmania

Funder: Drug Trends (including the Illicit Drug Reporting System) and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre are funded by the Australian Government Department of Health under the Drug and Alcohol Program. AP, LM and PMD are supported by National Health and Medical Research Council. Research Fellowships (#1174630, #1154839 and #1136908). The Burnet Institute gratefully acknowledges the funding provided under the Victorian Research Operating Infrastructure Fund.

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