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Medical Journal of Australia - 2024 - Spierings - Knowledge about COVID‐19 vaccines among Aboriginal and Torres Strait273.82 kB
Published VersionCC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Knowledge about COVID‐19 vaccines among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and attitudes to and behaviours regarding COVID‐19 and influenza vaccination: a survey
Medical Journal of Australia, Vol.222(1), pp.30-37
2025
PMID: 39655627
Appears in Thompson Institute Research Collection
Abstract
Objectives
To assess Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's knowledge about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, and their attitudes to and behaviours regarding COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations.
Study design
Web-based survey.
Setting
Australia (excluding the Northern Territory), 1 October 2021 to 31 May 2022.
Participants
Convenience sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 16 years or older living in Australia.
Main outcome measures
Proportions of respondents who reported knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines, and attitudes to and behaviours regarding COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations.
Results
A total of 530 people provided valid survey responses; their median age was 27 years (interquartile range, 23–38 years), 255 (48%) were from urban areas, and 309 (58%) were men. Of the 480 participants (91%) who provided complete survey questions (including sex and location information), larger proportion of men than women believed COVID-19 vaccines were very or extremely trustworthy (219, 79% v 124, 61%) and very or extremely effective (212, 76% v 138, 68%). The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination was lower among respondents aged 60 years or older than among those aged 16–29 years (adjusted prevalence ration [PR], 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66–0.99). After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, the association between intention to receive the influenza vaccine and receiving the COVID-19 vaccine was statistically significant (adjusted PR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.09–1.27).
Conclusion
The high levels of trust in COVID-19 vaccines and their effectiveness indicate that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are confident about their safety and efficacy and understand the importance of vaccination. The findings also highlight a positive attitude to vaccination and a commitment to preventive health measures among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Details
- Title
- Knowledge about COVID‐19 vaccines among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and attitudes to and behaviours regarding COVID‐19 and influenza vaccination: a survey
- Authors
- Shea Spierings (Corresponding Author) - The University of QueenslandVictor M Oguoma (Author) - The University of QueenslandAnthony Shakeshaft - The University of QueenslandJim Walker - The University of QueenslandMaree Toombs - The University of SydneyJames Ward - The University of Queensland
- Publication details
- Medical Journal of Australia, Vol.222(1), pp.30-37
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.5694/mja2.52551
- ISSN
- 1326-5377; 0025-729X
- PMID
- 39655627
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Author(s). Medical Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AMPCo Pty Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
- Data Availability
- The data for this study will not be shared, as we do not have permission from the participants or ethics approval to do so.
- Grant note
- Funding for this project was awarded in September 2020 to the value of $79 986 by the Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Disease Emergencies (APPRISE) under its First Nations-led research on COVID-19 scheme.
- Organisation Unit
- Thompson Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991113152002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health