TY - JOUR T1 - Determinants of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine willingness among people incarcerated in 3 Canadian federal prisons: a cross-sectional study JF - CMAJ Open JO - CMAJ SP - E922 LP - E929 DO - 10.9778/cmajo.20210248 VL - 10 IS - 4 AU - Kathryn Romanchuk AU - Blake Linthwaite AU - Joseph Cox AU - Hyejin Park AU - Camille Dussault AU - Nicole E. Basta AU - Olivia Varsaneux AU - James Worthington AU - Bertrand Lebouché AU - Shannon E. MacDonald AU - Shainoor J. Ismail AU - Nadine Kronfli Y1 - 2022/10/01 UR - http://www.cmajopen.ca/content/10/4/E922.abstract N2 - Background: Maximizing uptake of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines among people in prison is essential in mitigating future outbreaks. We aimed to determine factors associated with willingness to receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccination before vaccine availability.Methods: We chose 3 Canadian federal prisons based on their low uptake of influenza vaccines in 2019–2020. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire on knowledge, attitude and beliefs toward vaccines. The primary outcome was participant willingness to receive a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, measured using a 5-point Likert scale to the question, “If a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine becomes available in prison, how likely are you to get vaccinated?” We calculated the association of independent variables (age, ethnicity, chronic health conditions, 2019–2020 influenza vaccine uptake and prison security level), identified a priori, with vaccine willingness using logistic regression and crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results: We recruited 240 participants from Mar. 31 to Apr. 19, 2021 (median age 46 years; 19.2% female, 25.8% Indigenous). Of these, 178 (74.2%) were very willing to receive a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Participants who received the 2019–2020 influenza vaccine (adjusted OR 5.20, 95% CI 2.43–12.00) had higher odds of vaccine willingness than those who did not; those who self-identified as Indigenous (adjusted OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.11–0.60) and in medium- or maximum-security prisons (adjusted OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.12–0.92) had lower odds of vaccine willingness than those who identified as white or those in minimum-security prisons, respectively.Interpretation: Most participants were very willing to receive vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 before vaccine roll-out. Vaccine promotion campaigns should target groups with low vaccine willingness (i.e., those who have declined influenza vaccine, identify as Indigenous or reside in high-security prisons). ER -