الوباء المعلوماتي لكوفيد-19 وقبول المراه المصرية للتطعيم: دراسة علي نموذج المعتقد الصحي

Abstract

The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on women was severe, as they were at the forefront of the battle as healthcare workers, wives, mothers, and caregivers. According to the Egyptian National Council for Women, women with health conditions (pregnant/ lactating women) or at reproductive age are more prone to Covid -19 threats (The National Council for Women, 2020).With the ongoing call for social distance protocol, curfew, and lockdown, social media usage has increased as people keep posting about their worries and achievements (Anwar et al., 2020). In the meantime, social media played a vital role during the lockdown in disseminating information, education, and keeping people connected.Still, at the same time, it raised panic and anxiety due to the massive amount of online news. The rapid dissemination of enormous false news on social media platforms created a so-called "Infodemic" where during a disease outbreak a huge amount of online information is spread. (World Health Organization, n.d.) In the case of Egypt, social media networks are described as gendered as 38% of their users are women.Among the characteristics of social media in Egypt is that Facebook ranks first among other social media platforms. (Social & Hootsuite, 2022).Infodemic surrounding Covid-19 and vaccines posed a grave threat to global health as it led to rising in vaccine hesitancy and acceptance, especially among women, regarding the vaccine's safety, effectiveness, and long-term impact on women's healthStudies show that women are more vaccine reluctant than men; while women's primary concerns are adverse reactions and safety, and women of reproductive age are concerned more with their future fertility, current pregnancy, and breastfeeding (Saitoh et al., 2022) (Murewanhema, 2021) (Khan et al., 2021). Problem StatementThis study seeks to determine the factors that affect Egyptian Women's decision to accept Covid-19 vaccines. It focuses on understanding the perceived barriers, benefits, susceptibility, and severity influencing their vaccine decision and the influence of social media usage on women's decisions regarding vaccine acceptance. This study depends on the Health Belief Model. It is one of the most commonly used theories in understanding health behaviours. Regarding vaccine acceptance, the model aims to understand individual's beliefs about the vaccine, and the perceived barriers (Wong et al., 2020).