The rotavirus vaccine's withdrawal and physicians' trust in vaccine safety mechanisms

Objective: To determine how the withdrawal from the market of the rotavirus vaccine has affected physicians' trust in vaccine safety mechanisms, future adherence to vaccine recommendations, and willingness to use a new rotavirus vaccine. Design: National survey mailed to 1228 randomly selected pediatricians and family physicians. Main Outcome Measures: Confidence in vaccine safety mechanisms was defined by agreement with the statements that the system for determining vaccine safety before a vaccine is licensed works well and that the system for monitoring vaccine safety after vaccine licensure works well. Physicians who indicated that they would use a new rotavirus vaccine within 1 year of licensure and recommendation by professional organizations were classified as early adopters. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between trust in vaccine safety mechanisms and future early adoption of new rotavirus vaccines. Results: Following the withdrawal of the rotavirus vaccine, 83% of respondents believed the postlicensure surveillance system works well to monitor vaccine safety, while 22% of respondents believed the prelicensure system works well to determine vaccine safety. After adjusting for physician specialty and years in practice, respondents who believed the prelicensure vaccine safety system works well were significantly more likely to be early adopters than those with less confidence in prelicensure studies (adjusted odds ratio, 2.2 [95% confidence interval, 1.3-3.6]). Conclusions: Physicians have different levels of trust in prelicensure studies that determine vaccine safety and postlicensure surveillance systems that monitor vaccine safety. Trust in prelicensure vaccine safety evaluations may be associated with early adherence to new vaccine recommendations.