Missed Opportunity: The Unseen Driver for Low Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination Rates in Underserved Patients

Vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus have been available since December 2020. Vaccination rates among hospitalized patients at our institution remained low at approximately 40%, thus we sought to understand the drivers of vaccine hesitancy in our patient population.

All unvaccinated adult patients admitted to our hospital were asked to participate in a survey to assess coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy. Updated vaccination status was collected at the end of the study.

Ninety-seven patients agreed to participate, 34% of which were SARS-CoV-2 positive based on results from polymerase chain reaction tests. Of the 64 participants eligible to receive the vaccine, 57.8% were agreeable but only 27% received the vaccine before discharge.

Many patients are willing to receive the vaccine, and hospitalization provides a unique opportunity to interact with patients who have been otherwise unaware, unable, or unwilling to pursue vaccination outside of the hospital.