COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal and Associated Factors: A Population-Based Descriptive Study

Abstract

Introduction: Since the declaration of coronavirus disease as a pandemic, the focus was shifted to developing a vaccine for combatting the pandemic. However, it is believed that the most significant obstacle to community immunity against COVID-19 is vaccine hesitancy and refusal. Therefore, we aimed to identify the proportion of COVID-19 vaccine refusal and associated factors in a population aged 55 years and over in the central district of Burdur Province. Materials and Methods: In order to increase the rate of Covid 19 vaccination, the Ministry of Health has issued a declaration on the establishment of “vaccine persuasion teams.” Accordingly, health personnel were assigned to call the people who were not vaccinated, to learn their opinions about the vaccine, to inform them about the vaccine and to persuade them to get vaccinated. According to the records, there were 1303 unvaccinated people aged 55 years and over as of June 2021 at survey site, namely Burdur Province-Turkey. A total of 349 people could not be contacted and 146 people hesitated to get vaccinated. Dependent variables were vaccine acceptance or strict refusal. Results: We found that vaccine refusal was 1.75 (CI= 1.148-2.664) times higher among those with more than eight years of education and 2.37 (CI= 1.341-4.178) times higher among those obtaining vaccine information from sources other than their family physicians. Conclusion: Overall, we discovered that the vaccine acceptance level was quite high among our participants. Relevant bodies may engage in community-based works to ensure public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. Keywords: Aged; COVID-19 Vaccine; Persuasive Communication; Vaccination Refusal.