Present study focuses on the attitudes/perceptions regarding negative attitudes, hesitancy (uncertainty, unwillingness) and anxiety towards COVID-19 within the Saudian context. A cross-sectional web-based study uses convenience sampling technique for data collection through self-administrated validated questionnaire translated in Arabic language. Outcomes of the study revealed that more than 3/4th (80%) of respondents expressed intermediate to high levels of negative attitude towards vaccines, in general. The most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy were the concerns about the vaccine’s possible side effects, not taking it as a serious infection, and its efficacy in preventing the infection. Regarding anxiety towards coronavirus, it was found to be quite low. Decision tree analysis was used to assess the relationship between hesitancy and demographic characteristics of the respondents. Findings of the study pinpoint specific areas, on which to focus on, for the health care administrators in case of resurgence of the pandemic. The health administrators may incorporate the suggestions of the present study when framing their future policies for enhancing confidence and alleviating fears of the populace at large to receive COVID-19 vaccination.

vaccination, hesitancy, attitudes, knowledge, pandemic, decision tree, COVID-19.

Received: November 23, 2022; Accepted: January 1, 2023; Published: January 7, 2023

How to cite this article: Abdullah M. Almarashi, Shada A. Almarashi, Aliaa A. Alhazmi, Reham J. Alshehri, Raghad S. Alshahrani, Alhanouf H. Almathami, Sarah Y. Mushari, Arwa E. Alshahrani, Asalah T. Abdullah, Bodour A. Alqarni and Khushnoor Khan, Hesitancy viz-a-viz COVID-19 vaccine: a case study of Saudi Arabia, JP Journal of Biostatistics 23(1) (2023), 11-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.17654/0973514323002

This Open Access Article is Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References:

[1] L. R. Martin and K. J. Petrie, Understanding the dimensions of anti-vaccination attitudes: the vaccination attitudes examination (VAX) scale, Annals of Behavioral Medicine 51(5) (2017), 652-660.
[2] S. A. Lee, Coronavirus anxiety scale: a brief mental health screener for COVID-19 related anxiety, Death Studies 44(7) (2020), 393-401.
[3] K. A. Fisher, S. J. Bloomstone, J. Walder, S. Crawford, H. Fouayzi and K. M. Mazor, Attitudes toward a potential SARS-CoV-2 vaccine: a survey of U.S. adults, Ann. Internal Med. 173 (2020), 964-973.
[4] J. Alibrahim and A. Awad, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the public in Kuwait: a cross-sectional survey, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 18(16) (2021), 8836. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168836.
[5] A. Bendau, J. Plag, M. B. Petzold and A. Ströhle, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and related fears and anxiety, Int. Immunopharmacol. 97 (2021), 107724.
doi:10.1016/j.intimp.2021.107724.
[6] A. M. Almarashi, S. M. Allaf, K. F. Alkoshi, S. A. Alharbi, B. S. Alharbi, M. M. Malhan, M. Alqarni, H. Atiah, A. Baghdadi, M. Dhabbah, A. Bilobayd, M. Shawk, H. Alharthi, M. Alasmari, A. Alrashdi, A. Almurashi, A. Alghamdi and K. Khan, Medical profile of Covid-19 patients: a case study of Saudi Arabia, JP Journal of Biostatistics 18(1) (2021), 1-18.
[7] M. I. Kaadan, J. Abdulkarim, M. Chaar, O. Zayegh and M. A. Keblawi, Determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in the Arab world: a cross-sectional study, Global Health Research and Policy 6(1) (2021), 1-7.
[8] K. B. Wright, Researching internet-based populations: advantages and disadvantages of online survey research, online questionnaire authoring software packages, and web survey services, J. Comput. Commun. 10(3) (2006).