Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccine: A Survey of Health Care Workers in Oman

Faryal Khamis,Abdallah Badahdah,Issa Al Salmi,Maher Al Bahrani,Nawal Al Mahyijari,Furqan Al Lawati,Jaleela Al Noamani

doi:10.1007/s44197-021-00018-0

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy among health care workers (HCWs) is widely reported. Here we report on the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy and the factors associated with it in a sample of non-vaccinated HCWs. Data from 433 not vaccinated medical and non-medical HCWs from various health care facilities after the introduction of COVID-19 vaccination in Oman were analyzed. Most of the participants were nurses (41.5%) followed by physicians (37.5%) and non-medical HCWs (21%). Forty percent of HCWs were willing to uptake the COVID-19 vaccines. Physicians and male HCWs had more positive attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccines than nurses and female HCWs. Concerns about the COVID-19 vaccines including unknown health issues, efficacy and safety were stated by the participants. Our results show a low level of willingness to uptake the COVID-19 vaccines among HCWs, an issue that must be urgently addressed.

Highlights

Unwillingness to uptake COVID-19 vaccines has been reported in many countries around the world and among both the public and health care professionals
health care workers (HCWs) play a critical role in vaccine promotion, expression of negative attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccines might impact the success of COVID-19 national vaccination efforts [1, 4]
The overall goal of the current study was to identify the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and factors associated with acceptance of vaccine uptake in a sample of nonvaccinated HCWs in Oman

Summary

Introduction

Unwillingness to uptake COVID-19 vaccines has been reported in many countries around the world and among both the public and health care professionals. In both populations, reasons for rejecting or delaying vaccine uptake include concerns about vaccine safety, skepticism about the speed of vaccine development, potential sides effects, beliefs in conspiracy theories, and pre-existing health conditions [1–4]. Few studies has been conducted from the public and HCW’s in the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region [6–8]. Studies among HCWs from this region identified several key reasons for refusing to uptake vaccines including possible sides effects, lack of sufficient data on the safety of the vaccines, and speed of vaccines development [9]

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