Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccination in a Troop of Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team Marines: Observational Study
E Susanne Blazek, Amy Bucher

TL;DR
This study explores why some Marines were hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine and identifies common barriers like misunderstanding health info and low perceived risk.
Contribution
The study introduces a novel approach using written essays to identify vaccination barriers in military personnel and suggests targeted interventions.
Findings
The most common barrier was difficulty understanding health information (45% of responses).
Low perceived risk and fear of physical discomfort were also significant barriers.
Interventions based on these findings included reducing barriers and increasing vaccine benefits.
Abstract
In 2019, the World Health Organization declared the reluctance to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccination services as one of the top 10 threats to global health. In early 2021, self-reported reluctance to vaccinate among military personnel might have been considered a significant threat to national security. Having a choice architecture that made COVID-19 vaccination optional rather than required for military personnel could have inadvertently undermined military readiness if vaccination uptake did not reach an acceptable threshold. The purpose of this observational study was to examine Marines’ self-reported reasons for planning to decline the COVID-19 vaccine to understand their barriers to vaccination. As the vaccination became available to 1 company of Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) Marines in early 2021, company command required those planning to decline…
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Taxonomy
TopicsVaccine Coverage and Hesitancy · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts
