COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Healthcare Students in Vietnam, Based on Health Belief Model

INTRODUCTION: Healthcare students have a high risk of acquiring COVID-19 while practicing in medical facilities, and their health-related decisions might considerably impact the people around them. In the circumstance of many people refusing vaccination, the delay in accepting the COVID-19 vaccine by this group could be a barrier to providing effective immunity to the entire population against the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to assess the prevalence of vaccination acceptance and the factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among Vietnamese healthcare students. METHODS: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 384 respondents. The chi-square, Fisher's exact, and Mann–Whitney tests were used to assess the association between independent and dependent variables. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify the potential determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Variables with p values of less than .05 at the 95% confidence interval were considered significant variables. RESULTS: Out of 384 participants, 91.7% accepted COVID-19 vaccination. Nurse and midwife (odds ratio [OR] = 6.81, confidence interval [CI] = 2.02–22.94, p < .01), perceived normal health status (OR = 15.22, CI = 2.74–84.66, p < .001), perceived good health status (OR = 149.00, CI = 11.08–2003.42, p < .01), COVID-19 infection among relatives or friends (OR = 4.19, CI = 1.77–9.95, p < .01) were predictors for the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Participants were less likely to accept COVID-19 vaccination if they reported greater perceived barriers (OR = 0.80, CI = 0.69–0.93, p < .01). CONCLUSION: The current study offers helpful information on the factors influencing vaccine acceptance based on the Health Belief Model. The findings could benefit policymakers in establishing effective campaigns to improve the acceptance rate of the COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare students and shorten the time required to achieve herd immunity.