Cargando…

COVID-19 Vaccines and Restrictions: Concerns and Opinions among Individuals in Saudi Arabia

(1) Background: Recent studies in Saudi Arabia have indicated that a small proportion of the population is hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccines due to uncertainty about their safety. The objective of this study was therefore to examine concerns about COVID-19 vaccines in Saudi Arabia; (2) Methods:...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Meraya, Abdulkarim M., Salami, Riyadh M., Alqahtani, Saad S., Madkhali, Osama A., Hijri, Abdulrahman M., Qassadi, Fouad A., Albarrati, Ayman M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9140897/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35627953
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050816
_version_ 1784715211828101120
author Meraya, Abdulkarim M.
Salami, Riyadh M.
Alqahtani, Saad S.
Madkhali, Osama A.
Hijri, Abdulrahman M.
Qassadi, Fouad A.
Albarrati, Ayman M.
author_facet Meraya, Abdulkarim M.
Salami, Riyadh M.
Alqahtani, Saad S.
Madkhali, Osama A.
Hijri, Abdulrahman M.
Qassadi, Fouad A.
Albarrati, Ayman M.
author_sort Meraya, Abdulkarim M.
collection PubMed
description (1) Background: Recent studies in Saudi Arabia have indicated that a small proportion of the population is hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccines due to uncertainty about their safety. The objective of this study was therefore to examine concerns about COVID-19 vaccines in Saudi Arabia; (2) Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed Saudi residents aged 14 years and older. The online questionnaire consisted of the following sections: (1) demographics; (2) knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines and sources of information; (3) COVID-19 vaccines worry scale; and (4) opinions about restrictions placed on unvaccinated individuals in Saudi Arabia. An adjusted regression model was computed to examine the relationships between demographic factors and worry about COVID-19 vaccines. All analyses were stratified by age, with those aged 19 years and above considered adults and those aged younger than 19 years considered as adolescents; (3) Results: A total of 1002 respondents completed the survey. Of the study sample, 870 were aged ≥19 years and 132 were aged <19 years. Of the adults in the study sample, 52% either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “I am worried about the potential side effects of COVID-19 vaccinations in children”. Among adults, females demonstrated higher levels of worry about COVID-19 vaccines than males (β = 1.142; p = 0.004) in the adjusted analyses. A high percentage of the participants either disagreed or strongly disagreed with allowing unvaccinated individuals to enter malls, schools, universities or to live freely without restrictions; (4) Conclusions: A high proportion of individuals in Saudi Arabia are concerned about possible side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, and many believe that unvaccinated individuals should not be restricted from participating in public life. It is therefore crucial to provide easily accessible information on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in order to accelerate vaccination and minimize hesitancy regarding any future vaccinations that may be necessary.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9140897
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-91408972022-05-28 COVID-19 Vaccines and Restrictions: Concerns and Opinions among Individuals in Saudi Arabia Meraya, Abdulkarim M. Salami, Riyadh M. Alqahtani, Saad S. Madkhali, Osama A. Hijri, Abdulrahman M. Qassadi, Fouad A. Albarrati, Ayman M. Healthcare (Basel) Article (1) Background: Recent studies in Saudi Arabia have indicated that a small proportion of the population is hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccines due to uncertainty about their safety. The objective of this study was therefore to examine concerns about COVID-19 vaccines in Saudi Arabia; (2) Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed Saudi residents aged 14 years and older. The online questionnaire consisted of the following sections: (1) demographics; (2) knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines and sources of information; (3) COVID-19 vaccines worry scale; and (4) opinions about restrictions placed on unvaccinated individuals in Saudi Arabia. An adjusted regression model was computed to examine the relationships between demographic factors and worry about COVID-19 vaccines. All analyses were stratified by age, with those aged 19 years and above considered adults and those aged younger than 19 years considered as adolescents; (3) Results: A total of 1002 respondents completed the survey. Of the study sample, 870 were aged ≥19 years and 132 were aged <19 years. Of the adults in the study sample, 52% either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “I am worried about the potential side effects of COVID-19 vaccinations in children”. Among adults, females demonstrated higher levels of worry about COVID-19 vaccines than males (β = 1.142; p = 0.004) in the adjusted analyses. A high percentage of the participants either disagreed or strongly disagreed with allowing unvaccinated individuals to enter malls, schools, universities or to live freely without restrictions; (4) Conclusions: A high proportion of individuals in Saudi Arabia are concerned about possible side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, and many believe that unvaccinated individuals should not be restricted from participating in public life. It is therefore crucial to provide easily accessible information on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in order to accelerate vaccination and minimize hesitancy regarding any future vaccinations that may be necessary. MDPI 2022-04-28 /pmc/articles/PMC9140897/ /pubmed/35627953 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050816 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Meraya, Abdulkarim M.
Salami, Riyadh M.
Alqahtani, Saad S.
Madkhali, Osama A.
Hijri, Abdulrahman M.
Qassadi, Fouad A.
Albarrati, Ayman M.
COVID-19 Vaccines and Restrictions: Concerns and Opinions among Individuals in Saudi Arabia
title COVID-19 Vaccines and Restrictions: Concerns and Opinions among Individuals in Saudi Arabia
title_full COVID-19 Vaccines and Restrictions: Concerns and Opinions among Individuals in Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr COVID-19 Vaccines and Restrictions: Concerns and Opinions among Individuals in Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed COVID-19 Vaccines and Restrictions: Concerns and Opinions among Individuals in Saudi Arabia
title_short COVID-19 Vaccines and Restrictions: Concerns and Opinions among Individuals in Saudi Arabia
title_sort covid-19 vaccines and restrictions: concerns and opinions among individuals in saudi arabia
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9140897/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35627953
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050816
work_keys_str_mv AT merayaabdulkarimm covid19vaccinesandrestrictionsconcernsandopinionsamongindividualsinsaudiarabia
AT salamiriyadhm covid19vaccinesandrestrictionsconcernsandopinionsamongindividualsinsaudiarabia
AT alqahtanisaads covid19vaccinesandrestrictionsconcernsandopinionsamongindividualsinsaudiarabia
AT madkhaliosamaa covid19vaccinesandrestrictionsconcernsandopinionsamongindividualsinsaudiarabia
AT hijriabdulrahmanm covid19vaccinesandrestrictionsconcernsandopinionsamongindividualsinsaudiarabia
AT qassadifouada covid19vaccinesandrestrictionsconcernsandopinionsamongindividualsinsaudiarabia
AT albarratiaymanm covid19vaccinesandrestrictionsconcernsandopinionsamongindividualsinsaudiarabia