Background Herd immunity through vaccination is the target of public health interventions against COVID-19, but vaccine refusal or hesitancy is one of the global threats that make achievement of community immunity very difficult. The aim of this study was to determine negative attitudes and intentions and their predictors towards COVID-19 vaccines. Methods This was cross sectional survey, that targeted 1011 Egyptians aged 18 years and above, from 24 governorates, during the period from 7 January 2021, to 30 March 2021. Using a convenient sampling technique, the data were collected through an online self-administered, structured questionnaire, which was composed of two main sections, that involved sociodemographic and health related factors, intentions, and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines. Results The mean age of participants was 29.35 ± 10.78 years, (16.6 %) of them had COVID-19. (54%) of respondents, reported COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and 21% of them reported vaccine non-acceptance while (27.1%) of participants preferred receiving Pfizer vaccine. (51.8%) of the respondents expressed strong worries about unforeseen effects of the vaccine which was associated with younger age groups, married, females, absence of history of allergy to food or drugs, perceived susceptibility to COVID 19 and never having flu vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy was associated with female sex, urban residence, university/post graduate, married respondents, those never had flu vaccine, and those didn’t have confidence in the ability of health system to control the epidemic. Female sex, urban residence and having concerns about unforeseen effects were predictors for vaccine hesitancy and vaccine non-acceptance. Conclusion The observed high level of worries about unforeseen effects of COVID-19 vaccines and widespread vaccine hesitancy amongst Egyptians and its predictors should be considered during implementation of public health intervention campaigns to change negative attitudes and improve acceptance and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in Egypt.

Introduction: Physician burnout is considered a great public health problem, and the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic made it worse. The pandemic put several physical and emotional stressors on the frontline healthcare providers leading to increased burnout. Aim of work: was to assess the prevalence of burnout and its predictors among frontline physicians in Egypt during COVID 19 pandemic and evaluating the relation between burnout, its subscales, and psychosomatic symptoms. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study assessed 503 Egyptian physicians for burnout between the 26 th of March 2020 to the 1 st of June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic weeks, using the online form of Maslach Burnout Inventory [MBI]. Results: 72.8% of study subjects were classified as having a high burnout level and 26.0% as having an average level. 62.2% and 62.4% of studied physicians had high emotional exhaustion and depersonalization levels, respectively, and 43.5 % had low personal achievement levels. Dealing with critical cases, dealing with suspected cases of COVID 19, the number of shifts per month, and the presence of psychosomatic disorders were the significant positive predictors for total burnout score while dealing with critical cases, the number of shifts per month, and the presence of psychosomatic disorders were the significant positive predictors for emotional exhaustion. Significantly higher scores of psychosomatic disorders were observed among physicians with a high level of burnout, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization subscales. Conclusion: It could be concluded that dealing with critical cases, suspected and confirmed cases of COVID 19 were significant positive predictors for total burnout score. The high levels of overall burnout and its subscales indicate the need for specific intervention programs to cope with the work-related stressors.

We aimed to determine the prevalence of MHAs' usage and explore the context and determinants of using MHAs among inhabitants in Saudi Arabia (SA). This cross-sectional study randomly selected 679 adult inhabitants from the 20 health regions in SA through an electronic, self-administered, well-structured, and validated Arabic questionnaire. The prevalence of using MHAs was 47.9%, and it was significantly higher among younger, Saudis, highly educated, and working participants, as well as those with chronic diseases (p < 0.05). The main motives for using MHAs were to promote health status (68.6%) and to lose weight (33.2%). The most used apps were related to daily steps-counting (54.2%), and among females was tracking ovulation period apps (43.5%). The most common reported advantage of using MHAs was saving time (64%). Despite the potential benefits of MHAs, they were used by only about half of the study participants in SA. The most effective MHAs in improving health status were exercise, calorie-related, water uptake, and daily steps-counting apps. Policymakers looking to address reform aimed at improving health with mobile apps will find our study interesting.

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