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Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, vaccine hesitancy and intention to take the vaccine

BACKGROUND: The pandemic is at a paradoxical stage, with vaccine roll out initiated but a significantly elevated level of infection and death. Hope for recovery lies in high equitable vaccine uptake. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to: i) explore attitudes and factors influencing attitudes, towards the C...

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Autores principales: Cordina, Maria, Lauri, Mary A., Lauri., Josef
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Centro de Investigaciones y Publicaciones Farmaceuticas 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8005329/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33828623
http://dx.doi.org/10.18549/PharmPract.2021.1.2317
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author Cordina, Maria
Lauri, Mary A.
Lauri., Josef
author_facet Cordina, Maria
Lauri, Mary A.
Lauri., Josef
author_sort Cordina, Maria
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The pandemic is at a paradoxical stage, with vaccine roll out initiated but a significantly elevated level of infection and death. Hope for recovery lies in high equitable vaccine uptake. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to: i) explore attitudes and factors influencing attitudes, towards the COVID-19 vaccine amongst people living in Malta, ii) identify the reasons as to why individuals are unsure or unwilling to take the vaccine. METHODS: Two consecutive, short, anonymous online surveys using social media platforms were used to gather data from adult individuals. The first study was open to residents in Malta, while the second study invited international participation. Study 1 consisted of 17 questions inspired by the Theories of Planned Behaviour and Reasoned Action. Study 2 asked participates whether they were willing, unwilling or unsure of taking the vaccine and their reasons for being unsure or unwilling. RESULTS: A total of 2,529 individuals participated in Study 1 and 834 in Study 2. In both studies respondents were predominantly female having a tertiary education. Over 50% declared that they were willing to take the vaccine, with males being more willing (t=5.83, df=1164.2, p<0.00005). Opinions of significant others- family and friends (r=0.22, p<0.005) and health professionals (r=0.74, p<0.005) were associated with willingness to take the vaccine. Vaccine hesitancy was present in the study population with 32.6% being unsure and 15.6% declaring that they were not willing to take the vaccine. Females were more likely to be unsure (Chi-squared=14.63, df=4, p=0.006). Lack of vaccine safety was the main reason cited for unwillingness to take the vaccine. Predictors for willingness to take the vaccine were: i) The belief that the COVID-19 vaccine will protect the health of the people who take it; ii) Valuing the advice of health professionals regarding the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine; iii) Having taken the influenza vaccine last year and; iv) Encouraging their elderly parents to take the vaccine. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 vaccination information campaigns should promote group strategies, focusing on emphasising the safety of the vaccine and offer reassurance, especially to women.
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spelling pubmed-80053292021-04-06 Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, vaccine hesitancy and intention to take the vaccine Cordina, Maria Lauri, Mary A. Lauri., Josef Pharm Pract (Granada) Original Research BACKGROUND: The pandemic is at a paradoxical stage, with vaccine roll out initiated but a significantly elevated level of infection and death. Hope for recovery lies in high equitable vaccine uptake. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to: i) explore attitudes and factors influencing attitudes, towards the COVID-19 vaccine amongst people living in Malta, ii) identify the reasons as to why individuals are unsure or unwilling to take the vaccine. METHODS: Two consecutive, short, anonymous online surveys using social media platforms were used to gather data from adult individuals. The first study was open to residents in Malta, while the second study invited international participation. Study 1 consisted of 17 questions inspired by the Theories of Planned Behaviour and Reasoned Action. Study 2 asked participates whether they were willing, unwilling or unsure of taking the vaccine and their reasons for being unsure or unwilling. RESULTS: A total of 2,529 individuals participated in Study 1 and 834 in Study 2. In both studies respondents were predominantly female having a tertiary education. Over 50% declared that they were willing to take the vaccine, with males being more willing (t=5.83, df=1164.2, p<0.00005). Opinions of significant others- family and friends (r=0.22, p<0.005) and health professionals (r=0.74, p<0.005) were associated with willingness to take the vaccine. Vaccine hesitancy was present in the study population with 32.6% being unsure and 15.6% declaring that they were not willing to take the vaccine. Females were more likely to be unsure (Chi-squared=14.63, df=4, p=0.006). Lack of vaccine safety was the main reason cited for unwillingness to take the vaccine. Predictors for willingness to take the vaccine were: i) The belief that the COVID-19 vaccine will protect the health of the people who take it; ii) Valuing the advice of health professionals regarding the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine; iii) Having taken the influenza vaccine last year and; iv) Encouraging their elderly parents to take the vaccine. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 vaccination information campaigns should promote group strategies, focusing on emphasising the safety of the vaccine and offer reassurance, especially to women. Centro de Investigaciones y Publicaciones Farmaceuticas 2021 2021-03-22 /pmc/articles/PMC8005329/ /pubmed/33828623 http://dx.doi.org/10.18549/PharmPract.2021.1.2317 Text en Copyright: © Pharmacy Practice and the authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Cordina, Maria
Lauri, Mary A.
Lauri., Josef
Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, vaccine hesitancy and intention to take the vaccine
title Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, vaccine hesitancy and intention to take the vaccine
title_full Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, vaccine hesitancy and intention to take the vaccine
title_fullStr Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, vaccine hesitancy and intention to take the vaccine
title_full_unstemmed Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, vaccine hesitancy and intention to take the vaccine
title_short Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, vaccine hesitancy and intention to take the vaccine
title_sort attitudes towards covid-19 vaccination, vaccine hesitancy and intention to take the vaccine
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8005329/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33828623
http://dx.doi.org/10.18549/PharmPract.2021.1.2317
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