Factors Affecting COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among Pregnant Women: A Cross Sectional Study from Abha City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Pregnant women can get infected with COVID-19 with serious sequelae to them and their fetus. Concerns about COVID-19 vaccination safety to mothers and babies, and doubts about its effectiveness, have hindered vaccine acceptance throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The objective of the current investigation was to estimate COVID-19 acceptance rates among pregnant women in Abha city, Aseer region, Saudi Arabia, and determine its clinical and demographic correlates. Method: Descriptive questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey of a sample of pregnant women attending regular antenatal care services in Abha. We used backward stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis to evaluate the predictability of vaccine acceptance in terms of baseline clinical and demographic factors. Results: The survey included 572 pregnant women. The prevalence of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine was high (93.7%; 95%CI: 91.7–95.7%). University graduates and women with a later gestational age were more likely to accept vaccination (OR = 6.120, p = 0.009), (t = 2.163, p = 0.036), respectively. Confidence in vaccine safety was associated with better acceptance (OR = 3.431, p = 0.001). Conclusions: The acceptance rate for vaccination among pregnant women in Abha, Saudi Arabia, is higher compared to international rate. However, our results indicate that confidence in vaccine safety was associated with better acceptance. Hence, vaccine safety was the overarching predictor for harboring positive attitudes towards it. Public health policies should capitalize on such positive attitudes and aim for total coverage of pregnant women with COVID-19 vaccination including booster dosages.

Factors influencing vaccine acceptance in pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter study from West Bengal, India

“… 71 , 72 Even before the vaccine approval, a multi-national survey conducted in sixteen countries demonstrated that assuming 90% COVID-19 vaccine efficacy the willingness for COVID-19 vaccine was highest among pregnant women from India (>80%) and Mexico, but lower in high-income nations like the USA, Russia, and Australia (45%). 73 Other studies revealed an intention of 37% in Turkey, 74 44.3% in the USA, 75 60.4% in Vietnam, 76 93.7% in Saudi Arabia 77 and 78.5% from India. 65 …”