COVID-19 vaccine confidence and hesitancy among health care workers: A cross-sectional survey from a MERS-CoV experienced nation

  1. Mazin Barry
  2. Mohamad-Hani Temsah
  3. Abdullah Alhuzaimi
  4. Nurah Alamro
  5. Ayman Al-Eyadhy
  6. Fadi Aljamaan
  7. Basema Saddik
  8. Ali Alhaboob
  9. Fahad Alsohime
  10. Khalid Alhasan
  11. Abdulkarim Alrabiaah
  12. Ali Alaraj
  13. Rabih Halwani
  14. Amr Jamal
  15. Sarah Alsubaie
  16. Fatimah S. Al-Shahrani
  17. Ziad A. Memish
  18. Jaffar A. Al-Tawfiq

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Abstract

This study aimed to identify coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine perception, acceptance, confidence, hesitancy, and barriers among health care workers (HCWs).

Methods

An online national cross-sectional pilot-validated questionnaire was self-administered by HCWs in Saudi Arabia, which is a nation with MERS-CoV experience. The main outcome variable was HCWs’ acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine candidates. The factors associated with vaccination acceptance were identified through a logistic regression analysis, and the level of anxiety was measured using a validated instrument to measure general anxiety levels.

Results

Out of the 1512 HCWs who completed the study questionnaire—of which 62.4% were women—70% were willing to receive COVID-19 vaccines. A logistic regression analysis revealed that male HCWs (ORa = 1.551, 95% CI: 1.122–2.144), HCWs who believe in vaccine safety (ORa = 2.151; 95% CI: 1.708–2.708), HCWs who believe that COVID vaccines are the most likely way to stop the pandemic (ORa = 1.539; 95% CI: 1.259–1.881), and HCWs who rely on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website for COVID 19 updates (ORa = 1.505, 95% CI: 1.125–2.013) were significantly associated with reporting a willingness to be vaccinated. However, HCWs who believed that the vaccines were rushed without evidence-informed testing were found to be 60% less inclined to accept COVID-19 vaccines (ORa = 0.394, 95% CI: 0.298–0.522).

Conclusion

Most HCWs are willing to receive COVID-19 vaccines once they are available; the satisfactoriness of COVID-19 vaccination among HCWs is crucial because health professionals’ knowledge and confidence toward vaccines are important determining factors for not only their own vaccine acceptance but also recommendation for such vaccines to their patients.

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  1. Version published to 10.1371/journal.pone.0244415
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.12.09.20246447: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: The Institutional Review Board at the College of Medicine and King Saud University Medical City approved the study (approval # 20/0065/IRB).
    Consent: A waiver for signed consent was obtained since the survey presented no more than a minimal risk to subjects and involved no procedures for which written consent is usually required outside the study context.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    The SPSS IBM Version 21 was [34] used for data analysis, the Excel program was used for creating figures and depictions, and the p-value ≤ 0.050 was considered statistically significant.
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)
    Excel
    suggested: None

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Limitations: There are several limitations to this study. First, it was done using convenience sampling; therefore, it cannot be generalized to the entire population. However, we believe that national outreach to recruit HCWs from all regions provides a basis for further national representative studies. Second, this study is subject to the limitations of cross-sectional surveys, including sampling, response, and recall biases. Lastly, the study was done during a period of heavy media coverage on potential COVID-19 vaccines, which could influence the levels of knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes. Despite these limitations, the study highlighted the importance of addressing HCWs’ perceptions and attitudes toward potential COVID-19 vaccines and ensuring the provision of information from trustable sources, which will contribute to better vaccine acceptance among HCWs.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.12.09.20246447 on medRxiv