Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.
Department of Medicine, Combined Military Hospital Kharian Medical College, Punjab, Pakistan.
Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2022 Dec 31;18(1):2031455. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2022.2031455. Epub 2022 Feb 22.
A qualitative exploration of pharmacists' perceptions regarding COVID-19 conspiracies and their willingness to get vaccinated. A semi-structured questionnaire guide was developed using ground theory to conduct in-depth interviews. A total of 36 participants gave consent for an audio-recorded interview. Results have shown that most of the respondents believed that SARS-CoV-2 is a natural virus, not man-made, that causes a disease just like other viruses and it is absurd to believe that the vaccine is being used by foreign powers for the implantation of microchips just to control humans. A general opinion thatwhich reflected from the in-depth interview is that the pharmaceutical companies may be hiding some important information on COVID-19 to promote the sale of their product. Some doubts on the reliability and trustworthiness on the COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy data were noticed among the respondents. Factors leading to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy were adverse reaction, cost of COVID-19 vaccine, and limited data on safety and efficacy profile of COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among health professionals is a major hindrance to our current fight against COVID-19 pandemic. Findings of this study are alarming, and the stakeholders must consider this ongoing vaccination campaign as an opportunity to formulate a mechanism to ensure high vaccination rate among general public and healthcare providers in Pakistan.According to World Health Organization (WHO), vaccine hesitancy is one of the ten major threats to global healthcare system and it is a major barrier to achieve herd immunity around the globe.Pakistan has begun vaccinating its people in a systematic phase-wise manner under which the healthcare workers and elderly people are prioritized for vaccination.Previous experience tells us that vaccine hesitancy is a major problem in Pakistan and it is better to understand perceptions of pharmacists about COVID-19 vaccine who are the primary source of information for most of general population.This study is first of its kind to explore vaccine hesitancy among Pakistani pharmacists and the results of this study show that majority of the participants were willing to get COVID-19 vaccine and few of them have even got themselves vaccinated at the start of vaccination campaign.Many among the willing participants considered cost of vaccine, adverse reactions, limited data, safety, and efficacy as major hindrance to their decision to get vaccine.Few participants were found highly vaccine-hesitant because of their staunch belief in the prevalent myths and rumors about COVID-19 vaccine.
一项关于药剂师对 COVID-19 阴谋的看法及其接种意愿的定性探索。使用扎根理论制定了半结构化问卷指南,以进行深入访谈。共有 36 名参与者同意进行录音采访。结果表明,大多数受访者认为 SARS-CoV-2 是一种天然病毒,不是人为制造的,它像其他病毒一样引起疾病,相信疫苗被外国势力用于植入微芯片以控制人类是荒谬的。从深入访谈中反映出的普遍观点是,制药公司可能隐瞒了有关 COVID-19 的一些重要信息,以促进其产品的销售。受访者对 COVID-19 疫苗安全性和有效性数据的可靠性和可信度表示怀疑。导致 COVID-19 疫苗犹豫的因素包括不良反应、COVID-19 疫苗成本以及 COVID-19 疫苗安全性和有效性概况数据有限。卫生专业人员对 COVID-19 疫苗的犹豫是我们当前抗击 COVID-19 大流行的主要障碍。这项研究的结果令人震惊,利益相关者必须将当前的疫苗接种运动视为制定机制的机会,以确保巴基斯坦公众和医疗保健提供者的高疫苗接种率。根据世界卫生组织 (WHO) 的说法,疫苗犹豫是全球医疗保健系统面临的十大威胁之一,也是在全球范围内实现群体免疫的主要障碍。巴基斯坦已经开始有计划地分阶段为其人民接种疫苗,优先为医护人员和老年人接种疫苗。以往的经验告诉我们,疫苗犹豫是巴基斯坦的一个主要问题,了解药剂师对 COVID-19 疫苗的看法是更好的,因为他们是大多数公众的主要信息来源。这项研究是探索巴基斯坦药剂师对 COVID-19 疫苗犹豫的首例研究,研究结果表明,大多数参与者愿意接种 COVID-19 疫苗,其中少数人甚至在疫苗接种运动开始时就已经接种了疫苗。许多愿意接种疫苗的参与者认为疫苗成本、不良反应、数据有限、安全性和有效性是他们接种疫苗的主要障碍。少数参与者由于对 COVID-19 疫苗的普遍神话和谣言的坚定信念,表现出高度的疫苗犹豫。