COVID-19 pandemic vaccination acceptance among Basrah Medical College staff: A pilot study

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic, which was caused by a coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, continued as a danger to the healthcare system, with worldwide financial, educational, and societal ramifications. Vaccines are an important new tool in the COVID-19 fight. Vaccine reluctance and skepticism among the global population was a key impediment to achieving an adequate coverage rate. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among Medical College staff, special questionnaire was used for this proposes, consisted of questions covering socio demographic data that included age, gender and education, Also questions related to whether persons have ever had COVID-19 infection at personal and family level , questions about the means of prevention of COVID- 19 and questions about acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine were also included . Results: Out of the 114 participants, a total of 98 candidates completed responses and were used in the analysis, the vast majority of those who responded were from younger age groups (33.7±14.9) years, the COVID-19 vaccine's acceptance rate among Medical College staff was 45.3%, much lower than the hesitance rate (54.7%). About 26.6%of participant got infected with Corona virus and from them 3%were severe and admitted to hospital, and about 73.4% did not get the disease. Regarding their family members 8.2%of the family members got severe infection with COVID 19 and admitted to hospital and 30.6 % of them treated in outpatient, more than half of participants reported that mask, social distancing, hand washing and avoiding of overcrowding with case isolation are most preventive measures, while only 34.7% of participant reported that immunization against Corona Virus as preventive measure. Conclusion: The results indicated a low rate of acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine among medical college staff, emphasizing the importance of addressing any concerns regarding vaccine's skeptics by providing accurate knowledge about the vaccine’s efficacy and safety.