The COVID-19 pandemic is a great threat to both physical and mental health as it may lead to psychological stress connected with an economic crisis, threat of unemployment, or fear of losing family members. Emerging data shows that the general public may be vulnerable to the pandemic-related stress and experience frequently prevalent anxiety. A study involving 471 subjects (85.6% female) was conducted online during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used the following scales: Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Revised University of California, Los Angeles (R-UCLA) Loneliness Scale, and Daily Life Fatigue scale (DLF). Women had higher mean scores of depression, loneliness, and daily life fatigue and more often than males started exercising. Among people professionally active before the pandemic, there were more cases of increased alcohol consumption than among students. No differences in alcohol consumption patterns were found between genders. People living alone had higher scores of loneliness and daily life fatigue compared to those living with someone. Respondents who started taking any new drugs during COVID-19 home confinement had higher outcomes in all questionnaires. During home confinement, high scores of depression, insomnia, loneliness, and everyday fatigue were observed.

Healthcare workers are particularly exposed to biological risk during their daily occupational activities. Nowadays, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become one of the most widespread infectious agents. In the current study, we performed a survey on the attitude and behavior of Polish healthcare workers (HCW), which comprise physicians (MD) and administrative healthcare assistants (HA) towards the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. Our study involved 2300 subjects (42.17% female; 10.96% MD; 5.87% HA). The evaluation was conducted using a Google Forms survey based on original questions and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale—21 Items questionnaire. HCW significantly more often demonstrated their willingness to get vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 as compared to the control group (82.95% vs. 54.31%, respectively). The main concern, as regards all groups, was the development of long-term side effects after getting COVID-19 vaccine. The study revealed that depression significantly affects the willingness to get vaccinated. The readiness was significantly strengthened by positive medical history of recommended vaccinations, fear of catching COVID-19, as well as fear of passing on the disease to the relatives. Overall, the percentage of HCW, who want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 remains unsatisfactory. Further works exploring this subject are needed to take a step closer to achieving the herd immunity in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since physicians play a key role in vaccination, the initial training of medical students (MS) should aim to help shape their attitude in this regard. The beginning of vaccination programs against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an excellent time to assess the attitudes held by both medical and non-medical students regarding vaccination. A 51- to 53-item questionnaire including the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale was administered to 1971 students (49.21% male; 34.86% MS); two career-related questions were also addressed to the MS. The majority of surveyed students indicated a desire to get vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, with more medical than non-medical students planning to get vaccinated (91.99% vs. 59.42%). The most common concern about SARS-CoV-2 infection was the risk of passing on the disease to elderly relatives. While conspiracy theories regarding the COVID-19 vaccine are less popular among MS, both groups indicated concerns that vaccines may cause autism is equally common (~5%). Further studies exploring social attitudes towards the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine are a necessary first step to optimizing vaccination programs and achieving herd immunity.