Evaluation of Patient Experiences Regarding Pharmacist-Administrated Vaccination and Attitude towards Future Additional Pharmacy Services in Poland.

In order to increase the number of vaccinations performed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, a significant change was introduced in the legislation allowing for the vaccination to also be performed in pharmacies. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among those who chose a pharmacy as a vaccination point during the pandemic COVID-19. The aim of the study was to determine the overall level of patient satisfaction with pharmacist-administered vaccination in pharmacies and to examine patient opinions regarding the further expansion of pharmacy services. A patient survey was conducted immediately after vaccination in the period from January to March 2022. A total of 398 questionnaires were completed. The respondents reported high satisfaction with pharmacist-administered vaccinations (94.5%). In addition, the majority of consumers felt safe during the vaccination procedure (98.5%), and 88.4% declared they would come for other vaccinations at the pharmacy. The two main reasons for choosing this vaccination place were easy access regarding location (94.2%) and proposed vaccination hours (95.2%). The participants reported high levels of satisfaction concerning the pre-vaccination interview (91.2%), information level before immunization (91.5%), injection technique (96.7%), adjusting the premises to the service (95%) and general care in pharmacy after with vaccination (87.7%). The majority of respondents supported the future expansion of pharmacist-administered services, although the support rate ranged from 52% to 83% depending on the type of service offered. The majority of patients supported the continuation of ongoing prescriptions, blood pressure and blood glucose measurement services by pharmacists. Our findings indicate that the involvement of pharmacies in vaccination programs and other public health services met high levels of patient acceptance.

A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study on the Risk of Getting Sick with COVID-19, the Course of the Disease, and the Impact of the National Vaccination Program against SARS-CoV-2 on Vaccination among Health Professionals in Poland.

Six months after starting the National Vaccination Program against COVID-19, a cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted among 1200 salaried and non-salaried healthcare workers (HCWs) in Poland. Its aim was to assess factors including the risk of exposure to COVID-19, experiences with COVID-19, the trust in different sources of knowledge about the pandemic and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and the government campaign on vaccination as predictors of vaccination acceptance. The strongest awareness of a high risk of work-associated infection was demonstrated by doctors (D) (72.6%) and nurses and midwives (N) (64.8%); however, almost half of the medical students (MS) and nursing and midwifery students (NS) did not identify as a risk group. Out of several dozen variables related to sociodemographic characteristics and personal experience of COVID-19, only occupation, previous COVID-19 infection, and high stress seemed to significantly influence vaccination acceptance. Interestingly, only 6.7% of respondents admitted that the government campaign impacted their decision to vaccinate. This result is not surprising considering that the vast majority of respondents (87.8%) learned about vaccinations from sources such as academic lectures (29.9%), health professionals (29.0%), or the internet (28.9%). Those who gained information about vaccination from traditional media (radio, television, and daily press), a popular platform of the government campaign, had a lower propensity to vaccinate (OR = 0.16, p < 0.001). Additionally, almost twice as many considered the information provided in the campaign to be unreliable. Our findings, from this retrospective study, do not confirm that the government campaign was effective for healthcare professionals. Therefore, in this group, other forms of vaccination incentives should be sought. However, the vaccinated respondents were significantly more likely to support compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 among health professionals.

Pre-Vaccination Stress, Post-Vaccination Adverse Reactions, and Attitudes towards Vaccination after Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine among Health Care Workers.

The vaccines against COVID-19 are the best treatment for limiting the spread of the epidemic, and from an individual point of view, for avoiding getting sick. A cross-sectional retrospective survey was conducted from 15 May to 15 July 2021 among healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, midwives, and students at the Medical University of Lodz (nursing, midwifery and medical students) in Poland. Data were obtained from 1080 participants. The aim of the study was to evaluate vaccination coverage against COVID-19 among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Poland, and to analyze their attitude towards the available vaccines, stress before taking, and side effects after administrating them, and motivation towards continuing vaccination in the future (if necessary). The survey also estimated the frequency and quality of adverse post-vaccination reactions after two doses of BioNTech/Pfizer and two doses of AstraZeneca vaccines. The present study revealed that the vaccination ratio after 6 months from the start of vaccination against COVID-19 in Poland among HCWs was very high at 91.2%. However, doctors and medical students were more likely to be vaccinated than nurses and midwives, and nursing and midwifery students (94.8%, 98.3% vs. 78.9% and 86.3%, respectively). The main reasons that HCWs reported receiving a vaccination were to protect the health of themselves and their families, while the main reasons for avoiding a vaccination were fear of side effects, doubts about effectiveness, and an expedited clinical trial process of vaccines. Furthermore, more than two-thirds of those vaccinated reported side effects after receiving at least one dose of the vaccine. Most of the side effects were short-term symptoms with only slight and moderate intensification. The univariate and multivariate logistic regressions showed that the type of vaccine used had a significant impact on the occurrence of adverse post-vaccination effects and the severity and duration of vaccination symptoms. In addition, chronic disease and fear of vaccination also had some influence. Despite this, most participants (more often older than younger participants; p < 0.001) were in favor of compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 for HCWs.