Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-s22k5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-12T05:47:26.775Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Can We Persuade Those Who Hesitate to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Zerrin Gamsizkan Open the ORCID record for Zerrin Gamsizkan [Opens in a new window]
Zerrin Gamsizkan*
Affiliation:
Department of Family Medicine, Duzce University Medical Faculty, Duzce, Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Zerrin Gamsizkan, E-mail: zgamsizkan@yahoo.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine studies are continuing in many centers. However, the public’s preference for vaccination against COVID-19 is not clear. This study aims to determine the knowledge level of people about vaccines developed against the COVID-19 and their preferences for vaccination.

Methods:

Participants’ knowledge of COVID-19 vaccines was evaluated with a questionnaire. Participants were selected by a stratified method using age, gender, education, and occupation group.

Results:

The study includes 1508 participants with a mean age of 38.97 ± 14.50 (min = 18, max = 82); 24.7% (n = 373) of the participants stated that they wanted to be vaccinated, 34.5% (n = 521) did not want to be vaccinated, and 40.7% (n = 614) stated that they were undecided about vaccination; 39.11% (n = 444) of the participants stated that they were afraid of the vaccine’s side effects, and 19.55% (n = 222) thought that the vaccines produced were used for malicious purposes and hesitated to vaccinate; 7.57% (n = 86) of the participants stated that they thought the vaccines were rushed too much and not yet reassuring.

Conclusions:

The study results show that individuals are hesitant and unwilling to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Persuasion interventions and information are necessary, as the rate of those who accept vaccination is very low.

Keywords

COVID-19COVID-19 vaccinesimmunizationpublic healthvaccine hesitancy
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e165
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report—64. World Health Organization. Published 2020. Accessed March 25, 2020. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200324-sitrep-64-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=723b221e_2 Google Scholar
Kaur, SP, Gupta, V. COVID-19 vaccine: a comprehensive status report. Virus Res. 2020;15(288):198114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reiter, PL, Pennell, ML, Katz, ML. Acceptability of a COVID-19 vaccine among adults in the United States: how many people would get vaccinated? Vaccine. 2020;38(42):6500-6507.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nas, M, Atabay, G, Şakiroğlu, F, et al. Vaccine rejection in a university’s training family health centers. Konuralp Med J. 2020;12(3):430-434.Google Scholar
Palamenghi, L, Barello, S, Boccia, S, et al. Mistrust in biomedical research and vaccine hesitancy: the forefront challenge in the battle against COVID-19 in Italy. Eur J Epidemiol. 2020;35(8):785-788.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Catalan-Matamoros, D, Elías, C. Vaccine hesitancy in the age of coronavirus and fake news: analysis of journalistic sources in the Spanish Quality Press. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(21):8136. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17218136 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lazarus, JV, Ratzan, SC, Palayew, A, et al. A global survey of potential acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine. Nat Med. 2021;27(2):225-228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brüssow, H. Efforts towards a COVID-19 vaccine. Environ Microbiol. 2020;22(10):4071-4084. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.15225 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grech, V, Gauci, C, Agius, S. Vaccine hesitancy among Maltese healthcare workers toward influenza and novel COVID-19 vaccination. Early Hum Dev. 2020;1:105213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puri, N, Coomes, EA, Haghbayan, H, et al. Social media and vaccine hesitancy: new updates for the era of COVID-19 and globalized infectious diseases. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2020;16(11):2586-2593.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, SL, Wiysonge, C. Social media and vaccine hesitancy. BMJ Glob Health. 2020;5:e004206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawal, O, Nwegbu, C. Movement and risk perception: evidence from spatial analysis of mobile phone-based mobility during the COVID-19 lockdown, Nigeria. GeoJournal. 2020;2:1-16. doi: 10.1007/s10708-020-10331-z Google Scholar
Jones, JH, Salathé, M. Early assessment of anxiety and behavioral response to novel swine-origin influenza A(H1N1). PLoS One. 2009;4(12):e8032.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forni, G, Mantovani, A; COVID-19 Commission of Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome. COVID-19 vaccines: where we stand and challenges ahead. Cell Death Differ. 2021;28(2):626-639.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed