A Web-Based Survey on Factors for Unvaccination and Adverse Reactions of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines in Chinese Postoperative Patients With Breast Cancer

Background: Vaccination against SARS-COV-2 has been the most important strategy for preventing infection and controlling pandemics of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, but there is a lack of research on the pandemics in postoperative patients with breast cancer.Objective: To investigate the rate and factors for SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and adverse reactions after vaccination in postoperative patients with breast cancer.Methods: A web-based questionnaire survey on SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in postoperative patients with breast cancer among women. Demographic, clinical, and psychological data were collected. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the associations.Results: A total of 947 valid online questionnaires were collected. Of these, 341 (36.0%) accepted SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, while 606 (64.0%) were not vaccinated. There were significant differences in age, current treatment, the time since surgery, and the symptoms of anxiety and depression between the two groups. We identified current treatment (OR=0.51 for endocrine therapy; 95% CI: 0.29-0.89), the time since surgery (OR=22.49 for 1-2 years; 95% CI: 12.31-41.10; OR=8.49 for 2-5 years ; 95% CI: 4.98-14.46; OR=1.79 for >5 years ; 95% CI: 1.11-2.89), and the symptoms of depression (OR=2.48; 95% CI: 1.19-5.15) as significant factors for unvaccination. About 76.6% of unvaccinated participants were willing to be vaccinated when their breast cancer was stable. The overall incidence of adverse reactions was 43.1%, and no serious adverse reactions were reported. The most common local and systemic adverse reactions were pain at the injection site (28.4%) and fatigue (8.8%), respectively.Conclusion: Postoperative patients with breast cancer have a relatively lower rate of vaccination for SARS-CoV-2 than the general population. Receiving treatment, a shorter time since surgery and symptom of depression were associated with unvaccination. More than half of the unvaccinated participants were willing to be vaccinated when their breast cancer was stable. More importantly, a favorable safety profile of the vaccines is indicated.Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81974420).Declaration of Interests: None declared.Ethics Approval Statement: Reviewed and approved by the institutional research ethics boards of Xiangya Hospital, Central South University (Changsha, China).