Perception, Preventive Practice, and Attitude Towards Vaccine Against COVID-19 Among Health Care Professionals in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals (HCPs) are one of the vital and persuading means of information, prevention and control, and incentive of vaccination to content a pandemic. Therefore, knowing the status of HCPs’ perception about symptoms, transmission, preventive measures, and attitudes towards a vaccine against COVID-19 is crucial. METHODS: This multi-center cross-sectional descriptive study was one of the first and foremost ones in Bangladesh among the HCPs - doctors, nurses, and other subordinates (MLSS) engaged at COVID-dedicated hospitals. The study was conducted from February 5, 2021, to March 7, 2021, using a convenience sampling method among 550 HCPs using structured questionnaire with twenty-five questions on a three-point scale of responses. RESULTS: The age range of the respondents were 18 to 64 years with the mean 36.17 ±10.94 years of 524 HCPs, of which the majority of the respondents were female 323 (61.6%) and 201 (38.4%) were male with the 95.27% response rate. Almost all participants had “high” or more than sufficient perception (94.34%) about the symptoms of COVID-19. But all categories of HCPs expressed their poor or fair practice about restraining from shaking hands, and only 6.84% of nurses, 8.33% doctors, and 11.59% of MLSS avoided crowded public gatherings as a practice of prevention. A majority (95.99%) of the HCPs showed positive attitudes about the availability of vaccines free of cost, and 87.40% showed trust in the efficacy and safety of the vaccine against COVID-19. CONCLUSION: The majority of the HCPs from the COVID-dedicated hospitals have a good perception and positive attitude towards vaccination; nevertheless, have a poor practice of prevention toward COVID-19. This may play a vital role in motivation and wide acceptance of vaccine among the general population and contribute in comprehensive strategic planning to fight back against the pandemic in the country with the restricted resource.