Abstract
In January 2020, Chinese health authorities identified a novel coronavirus strain never before isolated in humans. It quickly spread across the world, and was eventually declared a pandemic, leading to about 310 million confirmed cases and to 5,497,113 deaths (data as of 11 January 2022). Influenza viruses affect millions of people during cold seasons, with high impacts, in terms of mortality and morbidity. Patients with comorbidities are at a higher risk of acquiring severe problems due to COVID-19 and the flu—infections that could impact their underlying clinical conditions. In the present study, knowledge, attitudes, and opinions of the general population regarding COVID-19 and influenza immunization were evaluated. A multicenter, web-based, cross-sectional study was conducted between 10 February and 12 July 2020, during the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections among the general population in Italy. A sample of 4116 questionnaires was collected at the end of the study period. Overall, 17.5% of respondents stated that it was unlikely that they would accept a future COVID-19 vaccine (n = 720). Reasons behind vaccine refusal/indecision were mainly a lack of trust in the vaccine (41.1%), the fear of side effects (23.4%), or a lack of perception of susceptibility to the disease (17.1%). More than 50% (53.8%; n = 2214) of the sample participants were willing to receive flu vaccinations in the forthcoming vaccination campaign, but only 28.2% of cases had received it at least once in the previous five seasons. A higher knowledge score about SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 and at least one flu vaccination during previous influenza seasons were significantly associated with the intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza. The continuous study of factors, determining vaccination acceptance and hesitancy, is fundamental in the current context, in regard to improve vaccination confidence and adherence rates against vaccine preventable diseases.
Highlights
healthcare professionals (HCPs) accounted for 26% of the participants (14.2% medical doctors, 4.6% nurses, 0.5% social and health workers, 2.1% administrative workers, and 4.5% belonged to another healthcare profession)
According to more recent data from the World Health Organization, currently, there are more than 100 vaccines in clinical development and about 200 in the preclinical phase [17]
In our study concerning participants’ opinions regarding future COVID-19 vaccines, the results show that 17.5% were doubtful
Summary
In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that Chinese health authorities had identified a novel coronavirus strain never before isolated in humans: 2019-nCoV, which was named severe acute respiratory syndrome from coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) [1].The virus was associated with an outbreak of pneumonia cases, recorded as of 31 December 2019, in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and it quickly spread around the world, leading to about 310 million confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic (data as of 11 January 2022) and to 5,497,113 deaths worldwide [2].In Italy, the number of confirmed cases, as of January 2022, was 7,554,344, with 139,265 deaths attributable to COVID-19 infections [2].Influenza virus usually affects millions of people during cold seasons, with high impacts in terms of mortality and morbidity; in Italy, there are about 7 million annual cases of flu and an average annual mortality excess rate ranging from 11.6 to 41 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. [3].Some groups, such as the elderly and patients with comorbidities, are at a higher risk of acquiring severe respiratory diseases due to SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses, which could impact their underlying clinical conditions [4].SARS-CoV-2 displays a clinical manifestation similar to influenza viruses, especially in the first phases of the disease, and this similarity could create an strain on the healthcare system during cold seasons [5,6]. In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that Chinese health authorities had identified a novel coronavirus strain never before isolated in humans: 2019-nCoV, which was named severe acute respiratory syndrome from coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) [1]. Some groups, such as the elderly and patients with comorbidities, are at a higher risk of acquiring severe respiratory diseases due to SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses, which could impact their underlying clinical conditions [4]. SARS-CoV-2 displays a clinical manifestation similar to influenza viruses, especially in the first phases of the disease, and this similarity could create an strain on the healthcare system during cold seasons [5,6].
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