BACKGROUND

Neither COVID-19 vaccine acceptance nor income changes among migrant workers during the pandemic has been assessed in Saudi Arabia.

AIMS

To assess the correlates of willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine and a decrease in income during the pandemic among migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

An electronic questionnaire was administered to 2403 migrant workers from the Middle East and South Asia employed in agriculture, auto repair, construction, food service (restaurants), municipality, and poultry farms in Al-Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia. The interviews were conducted in the native languages of the workers in 2021. Chi-square was used to assess the associations, and a multiple logistic regression was used to generate the odds ratio. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 27.

RESULTS

South Asian workers were 2.30 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.60-3.32] times more likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine than those from the Middle East (reference group). Restaurant, agriculture and poultry workers were respectively 2.36 (95% CI: 1.41-3.95), 2.13 (95% CI: 1.29-3.51) and 14.56 (95% CI: 5.64-37.59) times more likely to accept the vaccine than construction workers (reference group). Older (≥ 56 years, reference group ≤ 25 years) workers were 2.23 (95% CI: 0.99-5.03) times, auto repair 6.75 (95% CI: 4.33-10.53) times, and restaurant workers 4.04 (95% CI: 2.61-6.25) times more likely to experience a reduction in income than construction workers.

CONCLUSIONS

Workers from South Asia were more likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine and less likely to experience an income reduction than those from the Middle East.