Willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination among people living with HIV in a high HIV prevalence community

BMC Public Health

Table 1 Participant characteristics, sources of information, and responses to COVID-19; n = 213 unless otherwise specified

Variable	Median, [IQR] or n, (%)
Gender
Female	153 (72)
Male	60 (28)
Ethnicity
Black	212 (99.5)
White	1 (0.5)
Age, years	35 [29–43]
Education level at baseline^a
Primary school or less	13 (6)
Some high school	100 (47)
Matric	84 (39)
Tertiary	16 (8)
Employed at baseline	82 (39)
Ability to take HIV medication
Very poor, poor, or fair	0
Good	10 (5)
Very good	34 (16)
Excellent	169 (79)
Any barriers to health care^b	42 (20)
Any competing needs at baseline	27 (13)
Distance to clinic, kilometers
< 5	108 (51)
5–10	64 (30)
> 10	40 (19)
Unknown	1 (0.5)
Years since initiation of ART at time of COVID-19 interview, n = 206	2 [1–4]
Chronic conditions - any one or more of: hypertension, diabetes, asthma	7 (3)
Sources of information on COVID-19^c
Radio	158 (74)
Television	156 (73)
Clinic materials/staff	46 (22)
Social media	28 (13)
At work	24 (11)
Friends/family	22 (10)
Newspaper/news website	17 (8)
Posters	11 (5)
DOH/Government website	6 (3)
Other	25 (12)
COVID-19 medical mistrust summary score, n = 144^d	9 [6–13]
COVID-19 stigma summary score, n = 207	2 [0–5]
Recommended daily activities^e changed due to COVID-19
None	43 (20)
1 activity	39 (18)
≥ 2 activities	131 (62)

DOH Department of Health
^aAccording to the South Africa National Department of Education, ‘some high school’ refers to having started high school but not completing through Grade 12; tertiary level refers to any type of education pursued beyond the high school level. This includes diplomas, undergraduate and graduate certificates, and associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees
^bAny one or more barriers to health care in the categories of service, financial, personal health, logistical, or structural. All other respondents reported no barriers to care
^cMultiple answer choices allowed
^d69 participants were missing data for one or more component questions of the medical mistrust summary score
^eActivities falling within the recommendations of the South Africa National Department of Public Health including physical distancing (avoiding large gatherings, not hugging other people, avoiding people who present with symptoms, avoiding public transport, not going outside), wearing masks, hygiene (washing hands, not touching face, using hand sanitizer frequently)

ISSN: 1471-2458