Background People's lives were seriously affected by the emergence and the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Several vaccines were developed in record time to overcome this pandemic. However, putting an end to this public health problem requires substantial vaccination coverage rate. This latter depends on the acceptance of these vaccines especially by health professionals; the leaders of the current war against COVID-19. In fact, they have a central role in promoting vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2. In the developed countries, hesitancy rates towards these vaccines among health professionals vary from 4.3% to 72%. In the developing countries, few studies focused on this issue. Objective To estimate the prevalence and the predictors of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy among the Tunisian health professionals. Methods A cross-sectional study was led online between the 7th and the 21th of January 2021 among Tunisian health professionals. At least 460 participants were required. Snowball sampling method served to recruit participants. Data were collected using a pre-established and pre-tested questionnaire recorded in a free Google form. The link of the questionnaire was disseminated online to be self-administered anonymously to the participants. The generated online Google Sheet was uploaded and exported to SPSS software for analysis. Results Of the 546 responses, 493 were retained. The mean age of participants was 37.4 (± 9.5) years. Females represented 70.2% of participants. Social media represented the most frequently used source of information about COVID-19. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy among participants was 51.9% (95% CI: 47.5–56.3)). Female sex, working far from the capital and having concerns about the vaccines components predicted more hesitancy among participants. In contrast, the use of the national COVID-19 information website predicted less hesitancy among them. Conclusions The current Tunisian communication plan about COVID-19 vaccines must be reinforced. Social media represent a cost effective communication channel that can serve to reassure Tunisian health professionals regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. Special interest should be paid to females, paramedical professionals and those working far from the capital.

Background: Since the end of 2019, the world was seriously upset by the emergence of the “COVID-19 disease. Vaccines that were authorized for emergency use in a wide range of countries brought a glimmer of hope. However, sufficient vaccination coverage is conditioned by the people’s acceptance of these vaccines especially by health professionals. Indeed, they represent the leaders of the current war against COVID-19. Several studies focused on this issue in developed countries. However, few were reported from developing ones including Tunisia.Objective: The current study aimed to estimate the prevalence and the predictors of hesitancy towards the vaccination against the SARS-COV2 among the Tunisian health professionals.Methods: A cross-sectional study was led online between the 7th and the 21th of January 2021 among Tunisian health professionals. A number of at least 460 participants was required. Snowball sampling method served to recruit participants. Data were collected using a pre-established and pre-tested questionnaire recorded in a free Google form. The link of the questionnaire was disseminated online to be self-administered anonymously to the participants. The generated online Google Sheet was uploaded and exported to SPSS software. Responses of non eligible participants were deleted before analysis.Results: Of the 546 responses, 493 were retained. The mean age was 37.4 (±9.5) years. Females represented 70.2% of participants. Social media represented the most frequently used source of information about SARS-COV2 (reported by 66.9% of participants). Prevalence of hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccination was 51.9% (95% CI: 47.5-56.3)). Fear of eventual harmful components in the upcoming vaccines, female gender and having its professional activity far from the capital predicted more hesitancy among participants. However, a history of previous infection by SARS-COV2 and the use of the official national site for information about COVID19 predicted less hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccination.Conclusions: An effective national information campaign is required to reduce hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccination among Tunisian Health professionals. More international solidarity would increase vaccine availability in developing countries such Tunisia and ensure therefore faster resolution of the current pandemic.

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