ABSTRACT
Vaccine willingness has an important role in COVID-19 adult vaccination programs in many countries. However, there are limited data about vaccine willingness among children, which is largely confined to parents' opinions. With the emergence of new variants affecting this age group, children's opinions on COVID vaccination are important. This study aimed to explore children's willingness and opinions regarding COVID-19 vaccination. Focus group discussions, including children, were carried out in different Jordanian schools. Purposive sampling was implemented to select students of different socioeconomic statuses. A total of 54 school students aged 6–14 years from three schools participated in nine focus groups. Overall, participating children were willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and three overarching themes described their view regarding the vaccine: benefits, motivators, and hesitancy and barriers. Participating children reported that the vaccine could be beneficial as it protects them from being infected, and they are motivated to take it as it has been approved for children in other countries. However, some children were hesitant regarding taking the vaccine as it could be harmful, and they believed that COVID-19 is not severe in children. In conclusion, this study shows a clear willingness among participants from primary and secondary schools to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Such outcomes should be tested further on a larger scale to deliver future recommendations to include younger children in the vaccination program © 2023 Tareq L. Mukattash et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
ABSTRACT
The present study aimed to explore the willingness of the general public in the Middle East area to take or continue with the available COVID-19 vaccine in light of the emergence of the new omicron variant. This study is a web-based questionnaire distributed in Lebanon, Jordan, and Kuwait during the omicron variant outbreak. The questionnaire consisted of 15 close-ended questions with predefined options, divided into four sections preceded. The total included responses were 812 that were recruited from Lebanon (n= 427, 52.6%), Jordan (n = 279, 34.4%), and Kuwait (n = 106, 13.1%). Almost two-thirds of the participants (77%) received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while only 7.9% received the booster shot (third dose). On the other hand, 90 participants (11%) did not receive any COVID-19 vaccine yet. The reported willingness among the unvaccinated individuals to receive the COVID-19 vaccine was only 22.4% (20/90). However, higher acceptability of fully vaccinated individuals to receive the booster shot was reported after the surge of the omicron variant (49.2%). The findings of the present study have important implications on COVID-19 vaccination decision. As the pandemic evolves, the public’s opinions with the surge of different variants are changing. Therefore, there is an urgent need to raise awareness about omicron severity, and that the rapidly spreading strain puts the unvaccinated particularly at risk. Vaccine campaigns should elevate the voices of influencing messengers caring for severe COVID-19 cases. © 2022 Tareq L. Mukattash et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
ABSTRACT
The popularity of green energy-based investments has spurred, notably during the last decade. This is mainly due to the positive socio-economic externalities and an increase in the financing flow. This paper assesses the financial performance and managerial abilities of green funds and their conventional peers. Using a comprehensive data set of 2339 funds across twenty-seven emerging markets, we report that traditional energy funds outperform renewable funds. Further, while conventional fund managers exhibit market and volatility timing, we cannot deduce any support for the same in the case of renewables. These results indicate disincentives for investors who would like to go green. Finally, the performance of renewable funds degraded during Covid-19, highlighting the additional investment drag. We propose that immediate legislative, governance, and regulatory interventions are warranted to promote a sustainable financial system. © 2021
ABSTRACT
Objectives This study aims to explore home-treated COVID-19 patients' experiences and perceptions of pharmaceutical care services offered during their sickness. Methods This is a cross-sectional online questionnaire study, where a 30-item questionnaire was texted via a link to COVID-19 patients who were tested positive previously. A list of anonymised numbers was obtained from different COVID-19 testing centres.The study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board at the King Abdulla University Hospital/Jordan University of Science and Technology. Key findings A total of 268 patients who were previously diagnosed with COVID-19 agreed to participate in this study. Only 22.9% of patients reported taking medications regularly. Almost one-third of respondents (28.7%) indicated that pharmacists were involved in prescribing medicine to patients. Almost half the respondents (49.6%) stated that they or their caregivers obtained information and advice about their medicine from the pharmacists. Only 54.9% of the respondents agreed/strongly agreed that pharmacists have enough scientific information to provide the necessary medical assistance to COVID-19 patients. Patients who work in the medical field, and who always get their medication from the same pharmacy, showed better perception towards pharmaceutical care services that might be provided to COVID-19 patients (P < 0.01). Conclusions Pharmacists had an unsatisfactory contribution to the management of the disease in outpatient settings. Moreover, there was a poor perception of the pharmacists' role including their knowledge, communication skills and counselling skills. Thus, it is essential to improve pharmacists' knowledge and practices about infectious diseases.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to examine the potential of Lebanese banks to address the economic challenges posed by COVID-19. These banks faced the disturbances of the 2011 Arab Spring, and these two crises have resulted in similar economic conditions, leading to an assessment of how Lebanese banks are dealing with the pandemic-led challenges. Exploratory analysis revealed the common features in the two events, and confirmatory analysis examined the hypotheses underlying a theoretical framework. Triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data helped to scrutinize the two events. Content analysis of data collected from semi-structured interviews with seven senior banking professionals confirms that the Lebanese banking sector’s experience gained during the Arab Spring is a valuable asset for bankers, the Banque du Liban (BDL), and the government, which can be used to anticipate and deal with the COVID-driven economic crisis. The study finds three key moderating factors: trust deficit, inherited characteristics of the economy, and fiscal and monetary policy. Most of these conditions are permanent in nature and require long-term planning. As this research was conducted before the catastrophe caused by the August 2020 Beirut explosion, no aspects of the financial consequences to the Lebanese banking sector and economy resulting from this immerse shock are included. © Rania Itani, Muhammad Azeem, Nawazish Mirza, 2020.