Almusalami Eman M, Al-Bazroun Mohammed I, Alhasawi Amal I, Alahmed Fatimah S, Al-Muslim Zahra M, Al-Bazroun Lubana I, Muslim Maryam, Saha Chandni, Kay Elbert, Alzahrani Zeyad A, Ahmed Gasmelseed Y, Al Mutair Abbas
Research Center, Almoosa Specialist Hospital, Al-Ahsa 36342, Saudi Arabia.
Qatif Health Network, Qatif 32654, Saudi Arabia.
Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Feb 20;11(2):488. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11020488.
Vaccination of healthcare providers has recently gained focused attention of public health officials. As HCPs have direct contact with the population, and HCPs significantly influence the population, this study aimed to compare the acceptance rate, advocacy rate, and beliefs about the COVID-19 vaccine among HCPs in two time periods. In this repeated cross-sectional study, different HCPs were assessed in two periods ten months apart, i.e., November to December 2020 and September to October 2021, which were before and after COVID-19 vaccine approval by authorities. The study was conducted in Qatif Central Hospital, Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia. There were 609 respondents: 236 participants in the first period and 373 participants in the second period. Only 13 participants did not get the COVID-19 vaccine. There was around a 40% difference in the acceptance rate between the two study periods; the latter period was higher at 94.7%. Furthermore, 24.1% was the difference between the willingness to advocate the COVID-19 vaccine for others; the first period had a lower percentage (60.1%). Overall, results of the study showed that vaccine hesitancy, as well as the willingness to advocate for the vaccine, were improved between the pre-vaccine approval period and post-vaccine approval period, showing that the efforts made by the government improved COVID-19 acceptance and advocacy among HCPs. However, vaccine hesitancy is not a new issue, and for a better understanding of HCPs' beliefs, a qualitative study is needed.
医护人员的疫苗接种问题最近受到了公共卫生官员的密切关注。由于医护人员与民众有直接接触，且对民众有重大影响，本研究旨在比较两个时间段内医护人员对新冠疫苗的接受率、宣传率及相关信念。在这项重复横断面研究中，对不同的医护人员在相隔十个月的两个时间段进行了评估，即2020年11月至12月以及2021年9月至10月，分别是当局批准新冠疫苗之前和之后。该研究在沙特阿拉伯东部地区的卡提夫中心医院进行。共有609名受访者：第一阶段有236名参与者，第二阶段有373名参与者。只有13名参与者未接种新冠疫苗。两个研究时间段的接受率相差约40%；后一阶段更高，为94.7%。此外，在为他人宣传新冠疫苗的意愿方面相差24.1%；第一阶段的比例较低（60.1%）。总体而言，研究结果表明，在疫苗批准前阶段和批准后阶段之间，疫苗犹豫情况以及宣传疫苗的意愿都有所改善，这表明政府所做的努力提高了医护人员对新冠疫苗的接受度和宣传度。然而，疫苗犹豫并非新问题，为了更好地理解医护人员的信念，还需要进行定性研究。
