Oral Health Care Professionals’ Beliefs Regarding Vaccinations and Professional Responsibility during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose Oral health care professionals (OHCPs) have the potential to play critical roles in emergency response to public health disasters, both natural and manmade. The purpose of this study was to assess the beliefs, and associated factors, of OHCPs regarding their role in vaccination promotion and administration during the emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods Faculty and students in the dental and dental hygiene programs at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Dentistry (n=729) were invited to participate in an anonymous electronic survey during the 2021 fall semester. The 24-item survey assessed immunization behaviors, COVID-19 opinions, vaccination training, and scope of practice beliefs. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data.

Results A total of 150 surveys were returned for a 21% response rate. Most respondents agreed it was their professional responsibility to learn about COVID-19 vaccines (77%) and to recommend COVID-19 vaccines (61%), but fewer than half agreed it was their responsibility to administer COVID-19 vaccines (34%). Only 22% of dental hygiene student respondents agreed that recommending COVID-19 vaccines was their responsibility, significantly less than the dental students (61%) and faculty (73%) who held that belief. Vaccination training increased the odds of agreement that it was an OHCP’s responsibility to administer COVID-19 vaccines by a factor of 2.44 (95% CI, 1.10-5.41, p=0.03). None of the respondents who delayed or refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 themselves agreed it was their professional responsibility to administer COVID-19 vaccines.

Conclusion Most OHCPs in this study did not view administering COVID-19 vaccines as their professional responsibility, with personal vaccine hesitancy playing a significant role. Future research is warranted to explore how dental hygiene and dental education can cultivate professional responsibility to engage in vaccination promotion and administration during public health emergencies.