Healthcare Provider Attitudes toward the Newly Developed COVID-19 Vaccine: Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: During the long wait and the global anxiety for a vaccine against COVID-19, impressively high-safety and effective vaccines were invented by multiple pharmaceutical companies. Aim: We aimed to assess the attitudes of healthcare providers and evaluate their intention to advocate for the vaccine. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary private hospital where an electronic survey was distributed among healthcare providers (HCPs). The survey contained two sections: socio-demographic characteristics and Likert-scale perception, with 72% internal consistency. Results: The response rate to the email survey was 37% (n = 236). In addition, 169 (71.6%) of respondents were women, with more than half (134, 56.8%) aged ≤35 years. A total of 110 (46.6%) had over 10 years of experience, and most of them were nurses (146, 62%). Univariate analysis revealed that older participants significantly accepted and advocated for the new vaccine more than the younger ones. In the multivariate analysis, men were significantly more likely than women to accept and advocate for the new vaccine, as were those with chronic illnesses. Participants with allergy were significantly less likely to accept the vaccine than others. odds ratio (OR) and p-values were 2.5, 0.003; 2.3, 0.04; and 0.4, 0.01, respectively. Conclusion: The acceptance rate for the newly-developed COVID-19 vaccines was average among HCPs. Sex, age, presence of chronic illnesses, and allergy were significant predictors of accepting the vaccine.

Attitude Towards COVID-19 Vaccination Among Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review

“…Another variable shown to affect attitude toward vaccination uptake was age. Given this, older age was found to have a significant association with a positive attitude against COVID-19 vaccination in studies reported from Belgium, 35 Canada, 38 France, 41 Greece, 45 the USA, 15 , 40 ,Saudi Arabia, 39 Arabic-speaking countries, 37 and Slovenia. 34 Conversely, a report from Italy 44 exhibited associations between younger age (<30 years) and positive attitude toward vaccination.…”

“…Sex was observed to influence the attitude of healthcare workers against COVID-19 vaccination, with males demonstrating a lower anti-vaccination approach or positive attitude in the sample of studies reported from seven countries (7/24=29.2%) and females showing only in two studies reported from Ghana 49 and Saudi Arabia. 39 In contrast, more negative attitudes against COVID-19 were observed among female healthcare workers as evidenced from the surveys carried out in the USA, 15 Arabic-speaking countries, 42 Israel, 43 and Ghana. 49 …”

“…Other factors associated with a positive attitude toward vaccine or a lower anti-vaccination approach includes having never paid for a vaccine, dispensing the vaccine to their children (particularly those of effectiveness of 60% and 80%), 12 working in a designated hospital, 29 higher level of educational status, and income level, 15 being a non-MD health professional 30 and being junior doctors who live with their nuclear families. 48 Also, clinical factors such as the presence of chronic illnesses, flu vaccination during the previous season, and having allergies 35 , 39 , 44 were reported to have a positive association with uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine.…”

“…As per the tool, all queries were filled with "yes", "no" or "cannot determine" and "not applicable" and "not reported". 23 Accordingly, 15 articles were good, 13,24-37 6 were fair, 31,[38][39][40][41][42] and 3 were poor. [47][48][49]…”

“…42 However, nurses dominate among studies conducted in Nepal, 46 Belgium, 35 the USA, 40 Canada, 38 and Saudi Arabia. 39 Most of the participants were females in the majority of the samples (n=16), while males predominate in samples of Israel, 43 Saudi Arabia, 36 Arabic-speaking countries, 37 Poland. 32 There are approximately equal ratio of participation among both sexes in Ghana, 48 Congo, 33 and Greece 45 (Table 1).…”