Hussain Saba, Ali Farheen, Salahuddin Nawal, Karim Musa, Naz Shakeela, Khawaja Rizwan A, Rifaz Sadaf
Non-invasive Imaging, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi, PAK.
Infectious Disease, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi, PAK.
Cureus. 2021 Oct 11;13(10):e18654. doi: 10.7759/cureus.18654. eCollection 2021 Oct.
The deleterious effects caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection have been compounded by COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy throughout the world, including Pakistan. We are lacking representative national data regarding the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. This study aims to determine COVID-19 vaccination acceptance rates and predictors of its acceptance and hesitancy among a representative Pakistani population.
This cross-sectional study was conducted at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Karachi, from March 2021 to April 2021. Participants included patients, and their attendants visiting the outpatient clinics and healthcare workers of the institute. Participants were labeled as 'acceptant' or 'hesitant' based on their responses of 'yes' or 'no' and 'not sure' on the willingness to get vaccinated, respectively. The Chi-square test was used to calculate the significant association between different variables. A p-value ≤0.05 was set as a level of significance for all statistical analyses.
Overall, 1500 participants were enrolled with a vaccine acceptance rate of only 49%. Factors like male gender, unmarried and employed status, higher education, high socioeconomic class, Punjabi and Sindhi ethnicity, medical professional, and self or family exposure of COVID-19 were positively related to COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. The commonest stated reason for the vaccine hesitancy was distrust in vaccine efficacy or fear of vaccine adverse effects.
Vaccine hesitancy remains a serious challenge in our population, related to multiple demographic and thought factors. Focused actions and modification of these factors are the keys to conclude this COVID pandemic.
2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）感染所造成的有害影响，因全球包括巴基斯坦在内的COVID-19疫苗犹豫情绪而更加严重。我们缺乏关于COVID-19疫苗接受情况的具有代表性的全国数据。本研究旨在确定具有代表性的巴基斯坦人群中COVID-19疫苗的接受率及其接受和犹豫的预测因素。
这项横断面研究于2021年3月至2021年4月在卡拉奇的国家心血管疾病研究所进行。参与者包括前来门诊就诊的患者及其陪同人员以及该研究所的医护人员。根据参与者对是否愿意接种疫苗的回答“是”“否”和“不确定”，分别将他们标记为“接受者”或“犹豫者”。采用卡方检验来计算不同变量之间的显著关联。所有统计分析均将p值≤0.05设定为显著性水平。
总体而言，共招募了1500名参与者，疫苗接受率仅为49%。男性、未婚且就业状态、高等教育、高社会经济阶层、旁遮普族和信德族、医学专业人员以及COVID-19的自身或家庭接触史等因素与COVID-19疫苗接受情况呈正相关。疫苗犹豫最常见的原因是对疫苗效力不信任或担心疫苗不良反应。
疫苗犹豫在我们的人群中仍然是一个严峻挑战，与多种人口统计学和思想因素有关。针对性的行动以及对这些因素的调整是结束这场COVID疫情的关键。
