COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among College Students at a Midwest University

COVID-19 is responsible for over 750,000 Americans deaths. Despite efforts to vaccinate, many college students are hesitant. Hesitancy has hindered efforts to achieve high COVID-19 vaccination rates. Students at a Midwest university completed an online survey. Questions included COVID-19 vaccination intent and behavior. Over 1600 students participated. Half reported being vaccinated. Of those not vaccinated, 49% did not intend to get vaccinated, and 22% were undecided. Reasons for hesitancy included not trusting the vaccine was fully tested (85%), fear of potential side effects (78%), not trusting the vaccine is safe (72%), not trusting the US government (61%), and having read negative reports from the media about the vaccine (60%). Additionally, students were concerned the vaccine was not safe (B = − 0.902; 95% Χ² = 11.68; p = 0.001) and that it could not protect them from COVID-19 (B = − 0.834; Χ² = 12.43; p < 0.001). Students’ religious beliefs (B = − 1.245; Χ² = 4.61; p = 0.032) and having unvaccinated family members (B = − 0672; Χ² = 11.50; p = 0.001) also contributed to intention not to receive the vaccine. Unexpectedly, students reporting fear of potential side effects (B = 1.26; Χ² = 12.86; p < 0.001) were significantly more likely to indicate intention to get vaccinated than students who did not report this fear. College students may be more hesitant to receive the vaccination than others. Targeted messaging addressing concerns/fears may be a way to influence those who are hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.