Successful use of biomedical forms of HIV risk-reduction may have predisposed many gay and bisexual men (GBM) to vaccination against COVID-19, which may, in turn, affect their sexual behavior. A total of 622 Australian GBM provided weekly data on COVID-19 vaccination history and sexual behaviour between 17 January 2021 and 22 June 2021. We identify factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination, and compare sexual behavior before and since vaccination. Mean age was 47.3 years (SD 14.0). At least one-dose vaccination coverage had reached 57.2%, and 61.3% reported that the majority of their friends intended to be vaccinated. Vaccinated men reported a mean of 1.11 (SD 2.10) weekly non-relationship sex partners before vaccination and 1.62 (SD 3.42) partners following vaccination. GBM demonstrated high confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. Their sexual activity increased following vaccination suggesting that greater sexual freedom may be a specific motivation for vaccine uptake among some men.
Funding
Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions. The Kirby Institute, Centre for Social Research in Health, and the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society are funded by the Australian Government Department of Health. The Flux study has received funding from the Australian Research Council (2014-2018) and the New South Wales Ministry of Health, via the BBV and STI Research, Intervention and Strategic Evaluation (BRISE) program, STIs and Viral Hepatitis. In 2018, Flux was partly funded by the Gilead Sciences Australia Fellowship Research Grants Program. LM, BRB, BH are supported by the award of a NHMRC Research Fellowship.
