ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Attitude of health care workers (HCW), namely registered nurses, towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and compulsory vaccination. METHOD: In a structured anonymous scientific survey from January 29 to April 26, 2021 a questionnaire was sent to 72 heads of orthopedic and trauma departments. The doctors were asked to distribute and recollect the questionnaire after obtaining informed consent from the hospital administration, the nursing management and the works council. Descriptive statistics were used to explain the results. RESULTS: 355 answers from 5 departments were evaluated. In 65 out of 72 hospitals the top managers of either hospital or nursing administration or the works council declined participation, 2 heads of department were not interested. 50,7% of HCW were already vaccinated or had a scheduled appointment for vaccination, 14,9% had not yet made up their mind and 34,4% refuse vaccination. The majority of HCW vote against compulsory vaccination (47,6%), less than a quarter approves it (23,4%). CONCLUSION: The willingness to vaccinate was extremely low in this survey. The main reason for refusal to vaccinate is fear of side effects, so an information campaign should primarily focus on this topic.