Evaluating the attitudes and behavior of Hong Kong medical students toward receiving the COVID-19 vaccine

Getting vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 lowers the risk of severe infections. In Hong Kong, two vaccine types are offered: CoronaVac by Sinovac Biotech (Sinovac), and Comirnaty by BioNTech-Fosun Pharma (BioNTech). However, a low vaccine uptake rate is observed. This study primarily aimed to determine the population of medical students who underwent COVID-19 vaccination, and to identify factors associated with their decision on timing and vaccine type. Current medical students from The University of Hong Kong (HKU) were invited to participate in this cross-sectional survey study from 16 September to 31 December 2021. The main outcome measures were the vaccine uptake rate, primary reasons for vaccine-seeking behavior, vaccine hesitancy and vaccine preference, as well as information sources. All questions were of a multiple-choice format, with a free response option for questions pertaining to reason exploration. Overall, 214 medical students participated in the study, with all questionnaires analyzed. Amongst the 98.1% that completed 2 doses, 93.4% selected BioNTech and 6.6% selected Sinovac. Significant associations were observed between year groups and vaccine timing (p = 0.00989). The primary reason to seek vaccination was immunity against COVID-19 (53.5%), while the fear of potential side effects (61.6%) accounted for vaccine hesitancy. The BioNTech vaccine was favored for its higher efficacy against COVID-19 (87.4%). Information sources were mainly from HKU professors (64.6%) and social media (59.9%). The study found a high vaccine uptake rate amongst medical students, contrary to the situation observed in the Hong Kong general population at the time of the study. New knowledge added by this study This is the first paper evaluating the attitudes and behaviours of Hong Kong medical students towards the COVID-19 vaccine. High COVID-19 vaccine uptake observed amongst HKU medical students, with a predilection towards Comirnaty by BioNTech-Fosun Pharma for the first and second dose. Clinical medical students are more likely to get their COVID-19 vaccine earlier than preclinical medical students. Immunity against COVID-19 was the most compelling reason for students to get vaccinated, whilst fears over side effects was the main reason for vaccine hesitancy. Implications for clinical practice or policy Policies promoting mandatory vaccinations and greater inconvenience for those unvaccinated are useful and should be strictly enforced to further increase vaccination uptake. More regulation has to be put in place on vaccine-related information obtained from social media.