Public acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines and its predictors in Middle ‎Eastern/North African (MENA) countries: a systematic review‎

Abstract

Introduction COVID-19 vaccines emerged as a worldwide hope to contain the pandemic. However, many people ‎are still hesitant to receive these vaccines. We aimed to systematically review the public knowledge, perception, and acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries and the predictors of vaccine acceptability in this region. Methods We systematically searched databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane and retrieved ‎all relevant studies by 5 August 2021. Results There was a considerable variation in the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance ‎rates, from 12% in a study from Israel to 83.3% in Kuwait, although two other studies from Israel mentioned 75% ‎and 82.2% acceptability rates. Concerns about the side effects and safety of the vaccine were the main reasons for ‎the lack of acceptability of taking the vaccine, which was reported in 19 studies. ‎ Conclusion Several factors, such as age, gender, education level, and comorbidities, ‎are worthy of attention as they could expand vaccine coverage in the target population.‎

The social and socio-political embeddedness of COVID-19 vaccination decision-making: A five-country qualitative interview study from Europe

“…Fourth, concerns about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine are particularly pronounced in COVID-19 vaccination practices, partly, as we found earlier [28] , [12] , due to the expedited vaccine development process [23] , [1] , [6] ; Latkin et al, 2021; [26] , [3] and the amplification of existing concerns during the pandemic (Rhuginis et al 2022).…”

“…Existing research has identified a set of themes that inform COVID-19 vaccination practices across countries. First, pre-existing attitudes regarding vaccinations shape stances towards a COVID-19 vaccine, both in favour of getting vaccinated [6] and for those who report hesitation [1] , [21] .…”

“…Second, trust in government and health authorities has been shown to correlate with vaccine confidence [6] , [11] , [22] , [23] , [26] , Rhuginis et al 2022). Moreover, a lack of trust in the scientific community appears to be a strong predictor of vaccine hesitancy at the level of individuals [23] , [19] .…”

Anaphylaxis and allergic reactions to COVID‐19 vaccines: A narrative review of characteristics and potential obstacles on achieving herd immunity

“…To avoid the detrimental repercussions of this unfounded vaccine hesitancy, health care workers should aim to dispel the misconceptions by providing accurate information for people about the potential benefits of being COVID‐19 vaccinated. Also, ensuring validity of vaccine‐related information through social networks is of great importance in eliminating conspiracy beliefs about vaccination 62 . Moreover, to safely vaccinate susceptible individuals, they should be aware of the possible COVID‐19 vaccine hypersensitivity reactions and explicit protocols for managing them.…”

“…Although allergic patients should not generally be excluded from the vaccination program, this may lead to a deep distrust of vaccines and delay deploying counter-pandemic measures fast enough to balance out devastating economic, social, and public health consequences of the pandemic.To avoid the detrimental repercussions of this unfounded vaccine hesitancy, health care workers should aim to dispel the misconceptions by providing accurate information for people about the potential benefits of being COVID-19 vaccinated. Also, ensuring validity of vaccine-related information through social networks is of great importance in eliminating conspiracy beliefs about vaccination 62. Moreover, to safely vaccinate susceptible individuals, they should be aware of the possible COVID-19 vaccine hypersensitivity reactions and explicit protocols for managing them.4 | CONCLUSIONIn summary, COVID-19 vaccines introduce several advantages that outweigh their potential risks, such as allergic reactions that occur through different pathways and whose proper management can arrest severe outcomes.…”