Perception of Parents Towards COVID-19 Vaccine for Children in Saudi Population.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease that is caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). With the rapid spread of this pandemic, vaccination has been a breakthrough solution. At the time of conducting the study, COVID-19 vaccines were only approved for adults 18 years and older. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess the parents' likelihood of vaccinating their children once the recommendation for pediatric vaccination is established. Methods This was a cross-sectional study in which a self-administered survey was distributed to all parents visiting National Guard primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaires were distributed to parents attending primary care clinics. Data collected in the questionnaire include demographics (gender, marital status, educational level, and age), questions assessing parental perception towards the COVID-19 vaccine, and willingness to offer the vaccine to their children. Results A total of 333 respondents completed the survey with a response rate of 83.3%. Half of the participants were males and the other half were females with the majority (45.6%) aged between 31 and 40 years old. In terms of parental acceptability of vaccinating their children against COVID-19, 53.7% of the parents were willing to vaccinate their children as opposed to 27% who were reluctant to do so. Of those who refused, 97.5% and 96.6% cited lack of information and evidence, respectively, as the most common reasons for not accepting COVID-19 vaccine. We have found that age of the parents, especially those 31-40 years old, age of their children, especially 4-12 years old, and previous acceptance of the seasonal influenza vaccine were significantly associated with higher parental acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine. In contrast, gender, marital status and educational level were not statistically significant factors. Conclusion As COVID-19 spread globally and made people's lives in danger, vaccination became a highly important measure to halt the spread of the disease. Parents are now given the choice of protecting their beloved children from COVID-19 infection and its possible complications. Based on our findings, we noticed that majority of parents are going to vaccinate their children. In addition, some certain age groups of parents and children were significantly associated with decreased vaccine hesitancy to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Factors and Determinants for Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccine in a Medical University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is also known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an infection that is caused by the novel coronavirus. COVID-19 has severely affected the public health by causing more than 200 million cases and four million deaths worldwide. There are, presently, no specific antiviral treatments for COVID-19. As immunization is one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions to prevent this infectious disease, a number of vaccines, around 112, have been developed. In Saudi Arabia, many vaccination campaigns have already started. There are currently four approved COVID-19 vaccines but only three are available for use in Saudi Arabia. Methods This was a cross-sectional study in which a web-based survey was distributed to medical students in their clinical years at the College of Medicine in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 209 questionnaires were distributed. The survey assessed the demographic data, perception towards COVID-19 vaccine, barriers and predictors for accepting COVID-19 vaccine. Results Two-hundred and four respondents completed the survey with a response rate of 96.7%. Overall, 118 of the participants were males and 86 were females. Sixty-six percent of our participants had taken the vaccine. Of those, males and females were distributed equally in half. Fifty-three percent of the participants who had taken the vaccine aged 21-23. This age group had a significant effect on acceptance of the vaccine. Most common deterrent to taking COVID-19 vaccine was safety issues despite not having a statistical significance. In terms of motivators, the majority thought that fear of getting COVID-19 infection was the most important motivator to taking COVID-19 vaccine, which was statistically significant as well. Conclusion In the setting of spreading COVID-19 infection, the vaccine is still the solution to halting infection spread. Based on our findings, we see that there was a high acceptance rate (66.2%) of COVID-19 vaccine.

Physician's Perception Toward Using Telemedicine During COVID-19 Pandemic in King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Introduction The novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December of 2019. Since that time, medical services in Saudi Arabia have adapted to the situation by delivering medical care via virtual clinics. Therefore, the aim of the study is to assess physicians' perception and the level of satisfaction with telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods This was a cross-sectional study that included family medicine consultants and fellows who had used telemedicine in primary health care centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was conducted using an online validated questionnaire. The questionnaire was completed by 219 family medicine consultants and fellows, after obtaining their informed consent. The data that were extracted from the questionnaire included demographics, level of satisfaction, and questions related to their experience with telemedicine. Results Two hundred and nineteen participants enrolled in this study with 50.6% males and 49.4% females. The overall level of physicians' satisfaction with telemedicine was 64.3%. However, only one-third preferred telemedicine over office visits. Of these, 60% were males and 40% were females. The only factor that had a statistically significant effect on the preference of office visits or telemedicine was time efficiency (p-value < 0.001). Of those who preferred office visits over telemedicine, 52% of them cited ease of discussion and the ability to make a comprehensive physical examination as the most important reasons for choosing office visits. Technologic issues were the least important factor for choosing either clinic (4.1%). Of those who preferred telemedicine, avoiding contact with patients suspected of COVID-19 was the most commonly cited factor (27.4%). Family medicine physicians face multiple barriers while using telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most commonly cited barrier was the inability to make a full and comprehensive assessment of the patient. Conclusions In the setting of highly transmissible disease epidemics, telemedicine has a lot of potential for providing quick and safe care that is appropriate for screening and management. Based on our findings, using telemedicine should be encouraged by improving physicians' skills in this field since telemedicine is a crucial step to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission and provide community-wide treatment.

Patient satisfaction with virtual clinic during Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in primary healthcare, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: The novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, was first reported in Wuhan, China in December of 2019. Since that time, medical services in Saudi Arabia have adapted to the situation by delivering medical care via virtual clinics. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess patients' level of satisfaction with virtual clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among patients who had experienced virtual clinics in primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. An online validated questionnaire was sent to all participants who had at least one virtual visit between March 2020 to July 2020. The data sought included demographics, level of satisfaction and questions related to their experience with virtual clinics. Computed frequencies and percentages for categorical variables, and median, mean, and standard deviation for continuous variables. Satisfaction scores were compared between groups using Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test. RESULTS: A total of 439 patients completed the questionnaire (response rate 97.5%); 54% were male. The participants were divided into three age groups: 18-39, 40-59, and ≥60 years. Overall level of patients' satisfaction with virtual clinic was 68.1%. Factors statistically significantly associated with satisfaction included gender, age group and level of education (post-graduate and middle school) and being well-informed on the use of telemedicine. Specific age groups that were significant were 18-39 and 40-59 years; 50.2% of the males found telemedicine very convenient, compared to only 36.1% females. Family medicine clinics were the most commonly visited virtual clinics, whereas obstetrics and gynecology clinics were the least attended virtual clinics. The inability to meet the health-care professional face-to-face was reported by 53.8% as the most important disadvantage. CONCLUSION: This study shows a high level of satisfaction with virtual clinics in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic despite the service being relatively new in healthcare service in the country. Our study demonstrated that satisfaction was linked to age, gender, education and the type of clinic used.