Korean J Transplant.  2022 Nov;36(Supple 1):S118. 10.4285/ATW2022.F-2385.

Current status of COVID-19 vaccination and factors influencing vaccination in liver transplant patients

• Kim O

• KMID: 2535634
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4285/ATW2022.F-2385

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic continues worldwide and has created a public health crisis. The whole world made an effort to form herd immunity through vaccination. However, there were few studies on the factors affecting the actual inoculation rate and completion of inoculation for liver transplant recipients who are taking immunosuppressants after organ transplantation and are in the high-risk group. The purpose of this study was to confirm the status of COVID-19 vaccination in liver transplant re-cipients and to analyze the influence factors. The subjects of this study were adult males and females aged 19 years or older who were under follow-up at the hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery department for more than 6 months after liver transplan-tation. An online questionnaire was sent to a total of 1,850 people, and 411 liver transplant recipients understood the purpose of the study and agreed to participate. The contents of the questionnaire are the general characteristics of the study subjects, the status of COVID-19 vaccination, factors related to vaccination and reasons for not being vaccinated, and awareness of vac-cination. The data collection period was from March 2 to March 13, 2022, and the collected data was analyzed using the SPSS 26.0 program. Of the total 411 study subjects, 382 (92.9%) received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 324 (78.8%) completed the third dose, which corresponds to the primary dose of liver transplant recipients, and 58 (78.8%) incomplete re-cipients (14.1%) and 29 (7.1%) patients were not vaccinated. The rate of completion of vaccination was significantly higher in the elderly aged 60 years or older, male, married, college graduate or higher, income level of 2 million won or less, and 10 years or more after surgery (P<0.05). Awareness of vaccination was significantly higher in subjects who completed vaccination (P<0.001). When asked about their intention to receive additional vaccines in the future, 278 (67.6%) answered ‘I would like to be vacci-nated’, 52 (12.7%) ‘I will not be vaccinated’, and 81 (19.7%) ‘I don’t know’. The most common reason for the subject's COVID-19 vaccination was 'because COVID-19 is a serious disease'. The most common reason for refusal or hesitation to receive a boost-er vaccination after vaccination was because of fear of side effects of vaccination. When asked how they would be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the future, the answer was ‘if they were confident about the usefulness of the COVID-19 vaccine’. Age, sex, marital status, education level, income level, postoperative period, and awareness of vaccination were identified as factors affecting the completion of COVID-19 vaccination. To improve the vaccination rate, a strategy tailored to the characteristics of liver transplant recipients is required.