Introduction: Coronavirus Disease 2019 is a life-threatening disease, especially for people suffering from chronic diseases. As the vaccine is considered an essential tool to confront pandemics, many international medical institutions have developed vaccines. Countries around the world started immunizing their citizens. This study aims to assess the acceptance and barriers of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Saudi Arabian people who suffer from chronic diseases. Methodology: In February-March 2021, a cross-sectional study of Saudi Arabian people who have chronic diseases was undertaken. It was based on an Arabic self-administered online questionnaire and used a convenience sampling technique. 310 people were invited. The response rate was 97%. Results: 51.95% of the participants agreed to take the COVID-19 vaccine, 33.5% were unsure about being vaccinated, and 14.5% refused. The most frequent concerns between participants and receiving the vaccine were about the side effects and the perceived misconception that following preventative measures is enough to protect against the virus. Significant associations between age, education, and occupation with acceptance rate were found (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Although a higher acceptance for the targeted group was expected, the participants showed a moderate acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine. Addressing the barriers in the current study regarding vaccine uptake and focusing on building trust in the safety and efficacy of the vaccine will aid in hesitancy and resistance toward the vaccine, specifically if these measures were undertaken by an authority such as the Saudi Ministry of Health.

Background: Viral influenza, one of the global public health problems is specifically important in Saudi Arabia due to high susceptibility of transmission in hajj and umrah seasons (Islamic pilgrimage to the Mecca), as it has the ability to spread widely to a large proportion, in addition the disease has a higher rate of complications that might lead to death. Vaccination is an important strategy in prevention of viral influenza. Design and methods: The study aimed to describe the association between uptake of influenza vaccine with knowledge as well as identify the barriers that prevent vaccination among Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) non-health colleges students. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was undertaken, including 385 students from non-health colleges using a convenience sampling technique. Data was collected using an Arabic self-administered online questionnaire Analysis done by JMP program. IRB approval as well as informed consent were taken. Results: The uptake of the influenza vaccine was 15.3% in the current year and 56.8% in the previous years. No significant association was found between knowledge, and uptake of the vaccine. For the unvaccinated students, the most common encounter barriers stated by study population were concerns regarding the vaccine effectiveness, reduction of immunity the uncertainty of complete protection in a percentage of 12.0% for all. Conclusions: Although the level of vaccine uptake is low for this year, it is not associated with knowledge. There were some barriers that need to be tackled by health education programs.

Aim: To investigate the attitude and associated sociodemographic characteristics of KSA residents toward COVID-19 during the peak of the pandemic. Methods: A descriptive cross-section study was conducted during the lockdown period among 465 Saudi Arabia residentsenrolled by using a snowball sampling technique. Data was collected through an online questionnaire contained Likert scale questions regarding assessing attitudes of the population towards COVID preventative measures. The statistical analysiswas doneusingSPSS version 22, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA),and regression tests were used to evaluate the relationship between the variables. Results: The mean score for perception towards COVID 19 was25.93± 2.217.Most of the items got more than 90% highest agreement was for dealing with diseases should be based on medical advice (97.63%) followed adhering to preventive procedure decrease disease infectionof the population(59.96%). The lowest score was for havingdirect contact witha COVID patient even when committing to preventive measures.There is nostatistical association betweenage and genderwith behavior.ANOVA test showed gender issignificantly associated with agreeing that following preventive measuresreduces the possibility of disease infection while the profession is significantly associated with being in contact with aCOVID patient while committing to preventive measures. Conclusion: This study showed a positive attitude towards COVID-19 among the Saudi population, which could play an important role in following the preventive measures and thus reduce the spread of the disease. Keywords: Behaviour, Attitude,COVID-19, Saudi Arabia