Closing the Gap on COVID-19 Vaccinations in First Responders and Beyond: Increasing Trust.

Although COVID-19 vaccines are widely available in the U.S. and much of the world, many have chosen to forgo this vaccination. Emergency medical services (EMS) professionals, despite their role on the frontlines and interactions with COVID-positive patients, are not immune to vaccine hesitancy. Via a survey conducted in April 2021, we investigated the extent to which first responders in the U.S. trusted various information sources to provide reliable information about COVID-19 vaccines. Those vaccinated generally trusted healthcare providers as a source of information, but unvaccinated first responders had fairly low trust in this information source—a group to which they, themselves, belong. Additionally, regardless of vaccination status, trust in all levels of government, employers, and their community as sources of information was low. Free-response explanations provided some context to these findings, such as preference for other COVID-19 management options, including drugs proven ineffective. A trusted source of COVID-19 vaccination information is not readily apparent. Individuals expressed a strong desire for the autonomy to make vaccination decisions for themselves, as opposed to mandates. Potential reasons for low trust, possible solutions to address them, generalizability to the broader public, and implications of low trust in official institutions are discussed.

尽管新冠疫苗在美国以及世界大部分地区都广泛可得，但许多人选择不接种疫苗。紧急医疗服务（EMS）专业人员尽管身处一线且与新冠阳性患者有接触，但也不能避免对疫苗持犹豫态度。通过2021年4月进行的一项调查，我们研究了美国急救人员在多大程度上信任各种信息来源能提供有关新冠疫苗的可靠信息。接种疫苗的人通常信任医疗服务提供者作为信息来源，但未接种疫苗的急救人员对这一信息来源（他们自身所属的群体）的信任度相当低。此外，无论接种状况如何，对各级政府、雇主以及所在社区作为信息来源的信任度都很低。自由回答的解释为这些发现提供了一些背景信息，比如对其他新冠治疗方案的偏好，包括已被证明无效的药物。一个可信的新冠疫苗信息来源并不明显。个人强烈希望拥有自主决定是否接种疫苗的权利，而不是强制接种。文中讨论了信任度低的潜在原因、解决这些问题的可能方案、对更广泛公众的普遍性以及对官方机构信任度低的影响。