Vaccine hesitancy was evident in mid-2021 in people receiving cancer care or surveillance for a current or past solid or haematological cancer diagnosis, Australian research shows.
Responses to an online survey from 1,073 adults with oncology appointments across three Victorian health services found 34.8% were unvaccinated despite being in the Phase 1B priority group for vaccination.
The study, published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that only 26.4% of the vaccinated group were double-vaxxed.
For the 161 patients with haematological cancers, 105 were vaccinated and 56 were not.
Higher vaccine uptake was significantly associated with older age, male gender, English as a first language, longer time since cancer diagnosis and not being on current anticancer treatment.
Participants with gastrointestinal cancers were significantly less likely to be vaccinated.
Just over half (58%) of the unvaccinated respondents said they would “definitely” or “probably” have a vaccine, while 16% said they would “definitely not” or “probably not.”
Lower intent was observed in younger people, females and people with GI cancers.
Vaccine hesitancy, assessed using the validated Oxford COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy scale, was greater among unvaccinated than vaccinated participants.
“Unlike studies in general populations, we did not find correlations of hesitancy with lower educational level and household income, suggesting disease-related considerations may be stronger determinants of vaccination behaviour in a population affected by cancer,” the study said.