Acceptance and Hesitancy Toward the Covid-19 Vaccine Among Medical Students in Kabul, Afghanistan

INTRODUCTION: Vaccine hesitancy is defined as “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite the availability of vaccination services”. The low acceptance rate of covid-19 vaccination, reported in many countries, is a big challenge in efforts toward putting end to the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aim to find‎ the acceptance and hesitancy rates toward Covid-19 vaccine along with its reasons among medical students in Kabul. METHODOLOGY: In this cross-sectional study that was conducted among medical students of five randomly selected universities in Kabul, a total of 459 medical students completed the questionnaire. RESULTS: The hesitancy rate for covid-19 vaccine among medical students was 42.3%, hesitancy rate in males was more than in female students. The essential reason for refusing of the vaccine was concerns about safety and adverse effect of the vaccine (62.3%). More than half of the participants (51.5%) have already been vaccinated. In 60.2% of participants, protection against the COVID-19 virus was the main reason for accepting the vaccine. This study indicates that social media was the leading source (64.3%) of information about vaccine hesitancy. CONCLUSION: This study indicates a high level of hesitancy toward the COVID-19 vaccine among medical students. It is strongly advised to deliver accurate information on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines to the community especially, medical students.