ABSTRACT
One of the efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic is through vaccination, which is targeted to build immunity and prevent severe disease and finally to control transmission. This study aimed to analyze the perception of and the willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine among citizens of Medan. This research is an analytic study with a cross-sectional research design. Data collection was carried out from 16 April 2021 to 18 April 2021 by having participants fill out a Google Forms questionnaire. The population in this study was adults and elderly citizens in Medan who had not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19, and the sample was taken by consecutive sampling technique, which was the group of people who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The measurements of perceptions of and willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine used a previously validated questionnaire. The data was processed using SPSS. Data analysis used the Chi-square test (p<0.05). This study indicates that 31.8% of respondents positively perceive the COVID-19 vaccine. In comparison, 68.2% of respondents have a negative perception. On willingness to receive the vaccine, 80.2% accepted being vaccinated, 5.2% did not, and 4.6% had not decided whether to be vaccinated. There is a relationship between perception and willingness to undergo COVID-19 vaccination.
ABSTRACT
The ongoing, highly infectious COVID-19 pandemic has prompted various drugs, vaccines, and phytochemical research to control the disease. The accelerated development of vaccines showed the importance of immune boosters against the virus. This study aims to elucidate the role of curcumin, a phytochemical with an immunoediting profile potentially able to boost immunity after vaccination. Eighty participants were enrolled to receive curcumin supplementation (n = 40) and without (n = 40) after the first vaccination until 4 weeks after the second vaccination. Total antibody formation for SARS-CoV-2 was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay 4 weeks after the second vaccination. The average antibody formed in groups treated with curcumin supplementation showed a statistically significant increase compared to the control group (262.6 ± 324.2 vs. 42.8 ± 53.5, P < 0.01). Age, sex, and comorbidities did not affect the production of antibodies within groups. Curcumin showed potential as a complementary supplementation during the period of vaccination as it can increase antibodies produced post vaccinations. Further investigation should be conducted on more subjects and a longer period in concordance to vaccine boosters and emerging new variants.
ABSTRACT
The increasing number cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in the general population in Indonesia raises questions concerning the public's knowledge and attitudes regarding this pandemic. To determine the correlation between the general public's knowledge and attitudes regarding the COVID-19 outbreak 1 month after the first cases were reported in Indonesia. This cross-sectional study was conducted between early March and the end of April 2020 in the general population of Indonesia, beginning with the North Sumatra region, where the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia began. Questionnaires were randomly distributed online in the red zone in Indonesia. Data were collected by collecting people's responses to the questionnaire, which were distributed via WhatsApp (WA) application and were competed independently by the participants. A descriptive analysis was conducted to describe the demographic characteristics, knowledge, and attitudes of the general population. A total of 201 people had good knowledge (98%) and a positive attitude (96%) regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondents had a negative attitude in relation to two aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak: having to always maintain a distance of 1.5 m when in crowds, and not being able to regularly exercise or eat nutritious food (78.6% and 79.1%, respectively). Most people in Indonesia have good knowledge and a positive attitude regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. However, negative attitudes were still found in this study, and as a result, transmission prevention measures cannot reach their maximum effectiveness by simply publicizing the increase in day-to-day cases to the general public.