Attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers: a cross sectional study from Egypt

Abstract

Background Herd immunity is necessary to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Vaccination is the fastest and safest pandemic control strategy. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are essential in providing vaccination information. The aim of this study was to assess intent to be vaccinated against COVID-19 among HCWs in Egypt and to determine the factors that may influence their decision. Methods A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted among HCWs who care for patients in several hospitals in Delta region, Egypt. The questionnaire included sociodemographic, clinical, and occupational data, intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and beliefs and attitudes towards COVID-19 and its vaccination. Results The study included 455 HCWs with a mean age of 36.55 years (SD = 10.31) and 80% were females. The acceptance rate for the COVID-19 vaccine was 70.5%, while hesitancy and resistancy were both 17.6 and 11.9% respectively. About one-third (33.4%) of the subjects had previously contracted COVID-19. Most participants believed that they had a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 (71.6%). More than 64% believed they were at risk for vaccination side effects. Fear of infection and being at high risk of infection were the main drivers for COVID-19 vaccination, while the major barriers were waiting for additional experience with these new vaccines and having doubts about the vaccines’ efficacy. Conclusions The acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccination among HCWs is very high. This crucial group needs to be the focus of educational initiatives and campaigns designed to increase public awareness of the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination.

COVID-19 vaccination uptake among healthcare workers in Ghana: A comprehensive analysis of knowledge, attitude, perceived vaccine effectiveness, and health belief model constructs

“…This study found an outstanding vaccine uptake among HCWs, with more than three-quarters (85.9%) of participants having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The high COVID-19 vaccination rate among HCWs in Ghana is similar to high rates reported by other researchers, such as a vaccination rate of 72.1% in Zambia [55], 77.0% in China [56], 82.5% in Malawi [57], and 70.5% in Egypt [58]. In contrast to these findings, formative studies conducted before the COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out reviewed that most HCWs had concerns about the vaccines and were not willing to get vaccinated once vaccines were made available.…”

Perception and Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccine Among Healthcare Workers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

“…They had a good perception of COVID-19 vaccines, aligning with previous research [ 6 , 25 ]. This might be due to access to accurate information by HCWs, as supported by other studies that showed that being an HCW and working in the healthcare sector was associated with high knowledge, good attitude, and high acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines [ 6 , 25 , 26 ].…”

The Social Ecological Model: A Framework for Understanding COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Healthcare Workers—A Scoping Review

“…Notably, Fares and colleagues [ 47 ] found that Egypt (21%) had the lowest intention rate, while Adeniyi and colleagues [ 52 ] reported that South Africa (90.1%) had the highest intention rate. Based on the included studies in this review, the intention rate to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine among HCWs was below average [ 23 , 25 , 46 , 47 , 54 , 59 , 76 , 77 , 80 , 83 , 88 ]. Conversely, fourteen studies reported an above-average intention rate [ 48 , 49 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 60 , 69 , 71 , 79 , 82 , 88 , 91 , 92 ].…”

“…Based on the included studies in this review, the intention rate to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine among HCWs was below average [ 23 , 25 , 46 , 47 , 54 , 59 , 76 , 77 , 80 , 83 , 88 ]. Conversely, fourteen studies reported an above-average intention rate [ 48 , 49 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 60 , 69 , 71 , 79 , 82 , 88 , 91 , 92 ]. The overall average intention rate for HCWs to uptake the COVID-19 vaccines across all included studies was approximately 52%, indicating a suboptimal level of uptake among this population.…”