Influenza vaccine coverage, awareness, and beliefs regarding seasonal influenza vaccination among people aged 65 years and older in Central Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the level of awareness, sources of knowledge, and beliefs about the influenza vaccine in people ≥65 years in central Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study that used self-administered questionnaires conducted in 3 primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between May 2018 and August 2018. Results: There were 496 Saudis participants (70.2% male) were included, of whom, 47.8% had been vaccinated against influenza at least once. Of unvaccinated individuals, 46% believed that the vaccine was unnecessary. The majority of participants (70.2%) preferred to receive medical information on vaccination from doctors and health workers. Participants with higher levels of education were significantly more likely to have been vaccinated (p<0.05). Compared to the vaccinated participants, unvaccinated individuals were significantly less likely to be aware of the Ministry of Health campaign against influenza, believe that influenza vaccine does not weaken the immune system, know that elderly people and people with long-standing health problems should be regularly vaccinated against influenza, and believe that the influenza vaccine was the best way of prevention. Approximately 40% of the participants considered the influenza vaccine to be very effective and safe. Conclusions: There is a need for further programs in order to increase the awareness level of influenza vaccination. Also, health workers need to make more effort to educate patients because they are the preferred source of information.

Seasonal influenza vaccination coverage and its association with COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

“…From 2006, published studies from Saudi Arabia tried to calculate the SIV coverage rates among some risk groups but not among the general population ( Appendix 2 ). Among those studies, most of them reported that the targeted risk group was HCWs with variable coverage percentages from 5.9% up to 54.5% [ [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] ]. In this study, the SIV coverage rate of HCWs was 42.9%, which seems higher than the median yearly HCW coverage rate (33.3%) [ 38 ].…”

“…This low rate of vaccinated patients with diabetes may be related to change in health priorities and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the other two studies, the coverage rates of SIV among older people and pregnant women were 47.8% and 18.1%, respectively [ 33 , 37 ].…”

Beliefs and Anxiety Levels Regarding Available COVID-19 Vaccine among Taif City Population, Saudi Arabia

“…The acceptance rate for the COVID-19 vaccine in our study (39.8%) was less compared to that in other countries such as China (90%), Brazil (86%), the United States (75.4%), India (74.3%), and Russia (55%) [18] . Previous studies done in the Kingdom regarding vaccine acceptance for different diseases have reported a comparatively good acceptance rate for seasonal influenza [19,20] , whereas a poor acceptance rate has been reported for the H1N1 vaccine [21] . The lowered acceptance rate in our study could be due to rumors spreading on social media and some misconceptions about the vaccine which include but are not limited to the belief that there is an electronic chip in the vaccine, that it affects fertility and other mistaken beliefs about side effects.…”

Fatores determinantes na adesão à vacina contra influenza em pessoas idosas de um município do interior de Mato Grosso do Sul

“…Na China, ser do sexo feminino, ter doença crônica, participar de atividades comunitárias e receber recomendações de provedores de cuidados de saúde foram associados à maior vacinação, evidenciando a importância da disseminação de conhecimentos sobre a necessidade da vacina 14 . Na Arábia Saudita, as pessoas idosas com maior nível de escolaridade apresentaram maior adesão vacinal 15 . Em Israel, a equipe de saúde influenciou no aumento das taxas de vacinação por fornecer informações seguras 16 .…”