Primary care as determinant of COVID-19 and influenza vaccine uptake.

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between primary care (PC) settings and the uptake of COVID-19 and influenza vaccines in 29 European countries. Using multiple linear regression, the study evaluates whether PC settings influence vaccine uptake (VU) for these two vaccines. Based on secondary data, the study shows that people behave differently in the context of COVID-19 and influenza vaccination. Our findings suggest that health systems relied less on PC during the pandemic, not fully using its potential for COVID-19 vaccination. Even if the bivariate correlations highlight the importance of PC, the regression analysis did not verify a direct relation between PC strength and the COVID-19 VU. In contrast, for influenza vaccination, PC strength was the only significant variable. The core research message is that systematic comparative evidence regarding the relation between PC and VU is needed. Based on the belief that appropriate PC setting and adequate general practitioners (GP) involvement in vaccination could contribute to higher VU, the main policy implication of the research is that more attention needs to be paid to PC setting and the role of GPs in vaccination policy.