Acceptability of COVID-19 Vaccination among Greek Health Professionals

Abstract

Health Care Workers are at the front line of the fight against Covid-19. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acceptability of vaccination against COVID-19 among health professionals (physicians, dentists, pharmacists) two weeks prior to the start of the Greek vaccination campaign against COVID-19. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted over the period 15–22 December 2020 in 340 health professionals in Central Greece. We found a high level of acceptance for COVID-19 vaccine (78.5%) and a high vaccination coverage for the influenza vaccine (74%). Age > 45 years (OR = 2.01; 95% C.I. = 2.01−4.3), absence of fear over vaccine safety (OR = 4.09; 95% C.I. = 1.36–12.3), and information received from the Greek public health authorities (OR = 11.14; 95% C.I. = 5.48–22.6), were factors independently associated with the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. Our study indicates a high level of the COVID-19 vaccination acceptance among physicians, dentists and pharmacists. Nevertheless, several interventions can be implemented to increase acceptance of vaccine among health-care workers (HCWs) and could be especially directed at younger and vaccine-hesitant health care workers due to fear of vaccine side-effects. Last, our results provide some evidence that receiving vaccine-related information from the Greek Center for Diseases Control (E.O.D.Y.) could reduce the drivers of hesitancy and enhance the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination.

Attitudes towards COVID-19 Vaccination among Hospital Staff—Understanding What Matters to Hesitant People

“…Females were reported to be more reluctant about vaccination in both HCP [ 20 ] and general population studies [ 22 , 23 ]. The association between history of influenza vaccination and COVID-19 vaccine acceptance [ 8 ] and variations between occupations [ 21 , 24 ] have also been reported elsewhere, as has a rise in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance over time [ 25 ]. The fact that nurses and nursing assistants had negative attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination (compared to members of the administrative, technical, or logistic staff) is a matter of concern and suggests that vaccination communication efforts should also target this subgroup.…”

“…In the USA, a survey assessed the attitudes of all clinical and non-clinical staff at a children’s hospital [ 20 ]. Other studies, not specific to hospitals, examined HCPs’ attitudes either in Greece [ 21 ] or in France and the French-speaking part of Belgium and Canada [ 8 ]. Overall, these studies reported results similar to ours, with vaccination acceptance rates ranging from 78.5% to 80.1%.…”

“…Several factors reported to be associated with vaccine acceptance or hesitancy were similar to our findings. Older age was associated with higher rates of vaccine acceptance in several studies [ 20 , 21 ]. Females were reported to be more reluctant about vaccination in both HCP [ 20 ] and general population studies [ 22 , 23 ].…”

“…This is in line with a study among 2133 Egyptian medical students who ranked deficient data regarding the vaccine’s side effects and insufficient information on the vaccine as the two main barriers to COVID-19 vaccination [ 26 ]. Concerns about vaccine safety were also an important predictor of vaccine acceptance in two studies evaluating HCPs’ attitudes [ 8 , 21 ]. Concerns about vaccine safety are not specific to COVID-19 vaccines and were reported for other vaccines among both HCPs and the general population [ 27 , 28 ].…”

Hesitancy of Arab Healthcare Workers towards COVID-19 Vaccination: A Large-Scale Multinational Study

“…A number of studies have assessed vaccine attitudes in HCWs before vaccine availability and uptake [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], with the rate of reported vaccine acceptance ranging from as low as 27.7% in Congolese HCWs [ 7 ], to as high as more than 95% in a study involving HCWs from the Asia-Pacific region [ 10 ]. Some studies found the HCWs to be more inclined to take the vaccine than non-HCWs, but still with high rates of hesitancy.…”