Knowledge and Attitudes on Vaccination in Southern Romanians: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire

Abstract

Vaccines are fundamental instruments upon which all modern medicine is hinged. This has recently come into the light because of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. We aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of the public regarding vaccination. To this end, a questionnaire, which was disseminated to the general population between 2017 and 2019, was used. We evaluated the responses from 1647 individuals (61% female, with a median age of 37 years, mostly from urban settings). Most respondents (85%) had children and were in favor of vaccination. Our study underlines the role that family physicians have in the education and information of citizens. A small, but considerable, number of respondents (108, 7.84% of those with children) had not vaccinated their children according to the national vaccination scheme. Deterrents were considered to be lack of information and fear of side effects. However, 167 of our respondents (12.12% out of 1377 respondents with children) said that their child experienced adverse events—most of which were mild local reactions. Alternatives to vaccination were proposed by some. In this study, we highlight the attitudes of respondents and multiple gaps in general knowledge, both of which may need to be addressed, especially in light of the current pandemic situation and past failed campaigns.

Factors Influencing Public Attitudes towards COVID-19 Vaccination: A Scoping Review Informed by the Socio-Ecological Model

“…The studies were divided by design into one experimental study [ 23 ], 39 cross-sectional studies [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ], five literature reviews [ 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ], one systematic review [ 68 ], one randomized controlled trial [ 69 ], one longitudinal survey with two experiments [ 70 ], one Gallup panel [ 71 ], one media analysis study through a proposed novel behavioral dynamics model SRS/I (susceptible–reading–susceptible/immune) for the microblogging platform Weibo on social media […”

“…An online (web-based) survey was the most common data collection method applied in the cross-sectional studies in our review, of which: Some studies reported using social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to collect data [ 26 , 38 , 41 , 62 , 72 ]; Some studies reported using specific platforms to upload surveys including crowdsourcing platform Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk, Amazon, Seattle, WA, USA) [ 32 , 61 ], computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) [ 34 , 53 ], and Qualtrics (Seattle, WA, USA) [ 47 , 55 ]; One study used an online questionnaire to examine public attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines in three phases: pre-lockdown, during lockdown, and post lockdown with different participants in every phase [ 41 ], and another study conducted two-wave follow-up online surveys [ 55 ]; One study used an online survey with a semi-structured questionnaire following the snowball sampling technique [ 60 ]; One study used open-ended questions to ask about the factors influencing attitudes towards vaccines [ 47 ]; One study used an Internet survey and telephone interviews [ 35 ]; One study used a face-to-face-administered questionnaire [ 37 ]. …”

“…Several individual factors influencing public attitudes were reported in thirty-six studies ( Table 4 ). Personal beliefs with regard to vaccines and COVID-19 [ 30 , 32 , 34 , 35 , 49 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 62 , 66 , 68 , 70 ], health literacy [ 33 , 65 ], knowledge [ 34 , 37 , 57 , 68 ], lack of trust in governments and companies producing the vaccines [ 25 , 35 , 37 , 39 , 59 ], perceived susceptibility and risk perception towards COVID-19 and side effects of the vaccines [ 24 , 28 , 36 , 38 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 56 ], social [ 61 , 70 ], religious [ 37 ], and political views [ 29 , 32 , 54 , 61 , 71 ], level of anxiety of getting infected [ 30 ], fear [ 24 , 30 , 37 , 38 ] and worries [ 39 , 59 ], confidence in academic institutions and producing companies […”

“…The influence of traditional media [ 42 ], type of messages received, and disinformation through the Internet and social media [ 23 , 37 , 64 ] were among the reported factors. The reviewed articles showed that misleading information shared on social media platforms would make individuals hesitant to take the vaccine.…”

Understanding of COVID-19 Vaccine Knowledge, Attitude, Acceptance, and Determinates of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Adult Population in Ethiopia

“…11 As a result, we have been eagerly waiting for the launch of safe and successful COVID-19 vaccines as the COVID-19 pandemic continues while any vaccination program's effectiveness is dependent on participants' awareness, behaviors, and willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Previous studies showed that the general population's knowledge and attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine ranged from 31.6% to 86.2% in Africa, Europe, India, England, and France, respectively. [19][20][21]25,26 Despite this, more than 200 COVID-19 vaccines were being produced around the world, with numerous governments negotiating agreements to gain access to advance doses.…”