COVID-19 vaccine uptake among healthcare workers in the fourth country to authorize BNT162b2 during the first month of rollout

Abstract

Background The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was the fourth country in the world to authorize the BNT162b2 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, which it rolled out on December 17, 2020 and first targeted at healthcare workers (HCWs). This study assesses vaccine uptake among this group during the first month of its availability. Methods A national cross-sectional, pilot-validated, self-administered survey was conducted among HCWs in the KSA between December 27, 2020 and January 3, 2021. The survey included sociodemographic details, previous contact with COVID-19 patients, previous infection with COVID-19, receiving (or registering with the Ministry of Health website to receive) the COVID-19 vaccine, sources of HCWs’ information on vaccines, awareness of emerging variants of concern, and anxiety level using the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder assessment. A descriptive bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic binary regression analysis were performed. The primary evaluated outcome was vaccine uptake. Results Of the 1058 participants who completed the survey, 704 (66.5%) were female, and 626 (59.2%) were nurses. Of all the respondents, 352 (33.27%) were enrolled to receive or had already received the vaccine, while 706 (66.73%) had not enrolled. In a bivariate analysis, not enrolling for vaccination was more likely in females than males (78.5% vs. 21.5%, P < 0.001), HCWs between the ages of 20 and 40 years than those >40 years (70.4% vs. 29.6%, P = 0.005), Saudi HCWs than expatriates (78% vs 22%, P < 0.001), and among HCWs who used social media as a source of information than those who did not (69.8% vs. 38.6%, P < 0.001). In a multivariate analysis, independent factors associated with uptake were being a Saudi national (aOR = 1.918, 95 %CI = 1.363–2.698, P < 0.001), working in an intensive care unit (aOR = 1.495, 95 %CI = 1.083–2.063, P = 0.014), and working at a university hospital (aOR = 1.867, 95 %CI = 1.380–2.525, P < 0.001). Conclusions A low level of vaccine uptake was observed especially in female HCWs, those younger than 40 years old, and those who used social media as their source of vaccine information. This survey provides important information for public health authorities in order to scale up vaccination campaigns targeting these HCWs to increase vaccine enrollment and uptake.

COVID-19 Delta Variant: Perceptions, Worries, and Vaccine-Booster Acceptability among Healthcare Workers

“…Most HCWs had had previous contact with COVID-19 patients, and 23.2% had been previously diagnosed with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 themselves. This is a significant rise from previously published data in KSA of self-reporting the diagnosis of COVID-19 among HCWs, which was 10% overall [18]. In our study, 7.1% reported traveling internationally to countries with caseloads of the Delta variant, and international travel has been described as a risk factor for acquiring the Delta variant early in its emergence.…”

“…The survey was a pilot-validated questionnaire sent through SurveyMonkey©, a platform that allows researchers to carry out surveys via the web. The survey was adapted from the one used in our previously published research, with modifications and additions related to the new Delta SARS-CoV-2 variant [15][16][17][18][19].…”

Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccine: A Survey of Health Care Workers in Oman

“…For example, the acceptance rate among HCWs was 52.52% in Saudi Arabia, SA (December 2020) [ 9 ], and 48.6% in France and French speaking Belgium and Quebec (October–November 2020) [ 2 ]. These acceptance rates are higher than the 33.2% from SA (December–January 2020) [ 15 ], 24.5 to 36% from USA (September–October 2020) [ 16 ] and 27.7% from the Democratic Republic of Congo (March–April 2020) [ 14 ] but lower than the 64.9% reported acceptance rate from SA (October–November 2020) [ 17 ], 60–90% among physicians in Greece (February 2020) and 60% from the nurses in Hong Kong, China (February–March 2020) [ 18 ].…”

COVID-19 vaccine confidence and hesitancy among health care workers: A cross-sectional survey from a MERS-CoV experienced nation

“…COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out in the KSA on December 17, 2020, with mass campaigns in place and top country leaders posing as vaccine champions to boost the public’s trust in the vaccinations [ 43 ]. In recently published studies from Saudi Arabia, 66.7% of HCWs did not sign up to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine, and another study showed that only 24.4% and 20.9% were willing to receive the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and BNT162b2 vaccines, respectively [ 44 , 45 ]. Developing vaccine confidence among HCWs is a major step in stopping the pandemic amid all the misinformation that is available on different media platforms.…”