Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Coronavirus disease 19 containment measures are reaching a new turn with the introduction of several new vaccines. It is obvious that new vaccine acceptance will play an important role in the control efforts and not only the vaccine effectiveness and safety which are the main objective of this study.
AIM OF THE STUDY:
To figure out the level of acceptance of COVID19 vaccines among health care workers in Al Risafa Directorate of Health.
PATIENTS AND METHODS:
This is an online cross-sectional self-filled survey conducted in a 10 days period with the enrollment of 2423 participants from the largest directorate of health in Iraq that is Al Risafa directorate of health, the sample included all job titles and has been conducted prior to the administration of COVID 19 vaccines in Iraq.
RESULTS:
The majority of participants were PHC based, dentists more than others, most of them are nonsmokers and 44% had history of previous infection. The highest percentage 57% rejected the idea of having the vaccine, due to safety concerns and lack of conviction while 76.8% of total participants preferred to postpone the vaccination. History of vaccination with influenza vaccine was associated with better acceptance rate.
CONCLUSION:
The acceptance level of all new COVID 19 vaccines is disappointedly low among health care workers which would affect disease transmission control plans. Participants with previous good attitude for having vaccines such as flu vaccine showed better acceptance rates. Safety concerns, myths about vaccines and lack of trust lead to (hard to vaccinate) vaccine coverage problem.
Keywords
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