Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccines among Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Japan

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination is recommended for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines has not been sufficiently evaluated in patients with IBD. We aimed to assess the acceptance and hesitancy of COVID-19 vaccination and related factors among these patients. A retrospective cohort study using a self-reported questionnaire was performed among patients with IBD between 22 June 2021 and 30 August 2021. Of the 187 participants, 10.2% (n = 19) were hesitant to be vaccinated. Patients in the vaccine-hesitant group were younger (p = 0.009) and had a shorter disease duration (p = 0.020). Vedolizumab was prescribed more frequently (p = 0.024) and immunomodulators were less frequently used (p = 0.027) in this group. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified age (odds ratio [OR]: 0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.92-1.00, p = 0.042) and the use of immunomodulators (OR: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.01-0.66, p = 0.019) as independent significant factors for vaccine hesitancy. The COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy rate in patients with IBD in Japan was 10% in this study. The Japanese COVID-19 vaccination campaign appears to be successful. The risk of COVID-19 among patients with IBD requires adequate measures to ensure that vaccines are accepted by vaccine-hesitant patients. These findings may be helpful in achieving adequate vaccination rates.