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Rationale, aims and objectives Little is known about hesitancy to receive the COVID‐19 vaccines. The objectives of this study were (1) to assess the perceptions of healthcare workers (HCWs) and the general population regarding the COVID‐19 vaccines, (2) to evaluate factors influencing the acceptance of vaccination using the health belief model (HBM), and (3) to qualitatively explore the suggested intervention strategies to promote the vaccination. Methods This was a cross‐sectional study based on electronic survey data that was collected in Iraq during December first‐19th, 2020. The electronic survey was designed using Qualtrics. HBM was followed to develop the survey items. A regression analysis was used to identify factors influencing people accepting vaccination. Thematic analysis for participant comments to an open‐ended question. Results A total of 1680 completed surveys were received. The mean age of 31.2 ± 9.9 years, 53.0% were female and 47.0% were male. The largest group was HCWs (45.7%), followed by general population (37.5%) and health college students (16.8%). Our findings expressed some hesitancy to receive the COVID‐19 vaccine with the acceptance rate of 61.7%. The HCWs perceived significantly higher susceptibility and severity of the COVID‐19 infection compared to the general population. The HCWs were significantly more likely than the general population to receive COVID‐19 vaccine. Concerns with proper storage was the biggest barrier to vaccine receipt. The regression analysis indicated eight factors that were significantly associated with the willingness to receive COVID‐19 vaccine: Preventive measures, perceived benefit, perceived barriers, cue to action, subjective norm, supportive of vaccination in general and having received a flu vaccine before. Conclusions Awareness campaign can focus on enhancing the vaccine perceived benefit, debunking misconceptions, and increasing the disease perceived severity. Additionally, the public health leaders need to minimize the perceived barriers by providing the vaccines and appeasing people concerns about their storage, effectiveness, and adverse events.

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