KESEDARAN, PENGETAHUAN DAN SIKAP MASYARAKAT AWAM TERHADAP VAKSIN COVID-19 KONVENSIONAL DAN BERASASKAN BIOTEKNOLOGI MODEN DI MALAYSIA (Public Awareness, Knowledge, and Attitude towards Conventional and Modern Biotechnology Based Vaccines in Malaysia)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a paradigm shift in the role and contribution of biotechnology in curbing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide with the production of COVID-19 vaccines either through conventional or modern biotechnology-based methods. Malaysia, which is currently running the National COVID-19 Immunization Program, has approved the conditional registration of several types of vaccines for use during pandemic for its citizens to achieve the targeted level of herd immunity. Thus, this study aims to assess the level of public awareness, self-rated knowledge, and attitude towards three different types of COVID-19 vaccines in Malaysia namely inactivated virus vaccines such as Sinovac, viral vector vaccines such as AstraZeneca and mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer. A survey was conducted using an online survey platform on Malaysians from 19 June to 2 July 2021. Of the 357 respondents, the mean age was 34.75 ± 10.35 with 67.2% of them from STEM-related educational background. Results of the study shows that the Malaysian public were highly aware of the three types of COVID-19 vaccines, but their self-rated knowledge was moderate. Generally, the public were positive towards vaccines. They perceived all the vaccines as having high benefits and highly acceptable from their religious point of view which was translated into high intention to adopt. However, they acknowledged moderate worries on the possible risks of the vaccines. The results of this study play an important role in evaluating the readiness of the Malaysian community to adopt COVID-19 vaccines besides providing an insight into the current attitude of the public towards the vaccination efforts coordinated by the Malaysian government. Keywords: Public awareness; Self-rated knowledge; Behavioural intention; COVID-19 vaccines; Conventional; Modern biotechnology