Original Research

Vaccine Hesitancy: Prevalence and Strategies to Improve Uptake of Optional Vaccines Among Immunocompromised Patients and Health Care Providers

Umar Farooq Dar1
Avicenna Medical College Lahore
Muhammad Maqsood2
DHQ Teaching Hospital Gujranwala
Muhammad Tauseef Javed3
Gujranwala Medical College
Masem Afzal4
Gulab Devi Teaching Hospital Lahore
Tariq Iqbal5
Kawaja Muammad Safdar Medical College Sialkot
Nauman Rafi Rajput6
Sahara Medical College Narowal

✉ Correspondence: Umar Farooq Dar Email: umardar84@gmail.com

DOI https://doi.org/10.70302/jpsim.v6i4.2564
Volume: 6, Issue 4 Pages: 348–353 Published: 21 Nov 2025
Received: 30 Jan 2025 Revised: 22 Mar 2025 Accepted: 11 Oct 2025 Published Online: 21 Nov 2025

Abstract

Objective

This study was carried out for determination of vaccine hesitancy and its logics among health care providers (HCPs) across Punjab and immunocompromised patients.

Methods

A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out and collected data from 169 HCPs across Punjab and 199 immunocompromised patients from healthcare facilities associated with Gujranwala Medical College and Al-Aleem Medical College using consecutive snowball sampling method. A self-administered, valid survey form was used to obtain quantitative data. Vaccine hesitancy was defined as refusal to register or uptake an advised vaccine shot despite availability of vaccination services.

Results

In our study sample (n=368), mean age of participants (n=368) was 35 years, and 41% participants were female. 199 participants (54.1%) were immunocompromised patients while 45.9% were HCPs. In our total study population, 151 (41.0%) were vaccine hesitant, among them 51% were HCPs. Only 129 (35.1%) participants have a positive perception & attitude towards general vaccination. The difference in prevalence of vaccine hesitancy is significant between HCPs and Immunocompromised patients (P <0.001). Analysis on Logistic regression showed male gender, younger age group, negative perception and attitude towards vaccination are significant predictors of vaccine hesitancy. Taken yearly influenza vaccine shot was found a non-significant predictor.

Conclusion

It is concluded that vaccine hesitancy is still high among immunocompromised patients and healthcare providers. Continuous health education and media campaigns need to target young male individuals who are under influence of social media.

Keywords
Vaccine Hesitancy Vaccine Immunization Vaccine confidence Optional vaccines immunocompromised patients.

How to Cite This Article

Dar UF, Maqsood M, Javed MT, Afzal M, Iqbal T, Rajput NR. Vaccine Hesitancy: Prevalence and Strategies to Improve Uptake of Optional Vaccines Among Immunocompromised Patients and Health Care Providers. J Pak Soc Intern Med. 2025;6(4):348–353. doi:10.70302/jpsim.v6i4.2564

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Conflict of Interest

All authors declare no competing interests.

Disclosed in accordance with ICMJE and COPE guidelines.

Funding

No specific funding was received for this research.

Funder information follows the Crossref Funder Registry standard.

References

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Reference list indexed for Google Scholar and ResearchGate. DOI links resolve via doi.org.

CC BY CC BY 4.0 This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. May be shared and adapted with attribution. © 2025 Journal of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine.
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