ABSTRACT
Vaccine hesitancy (VH) is defined as a delayed in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services. This multinational study examined user interaction with social media about COVID-19 vaccination. The study analyzed social media comments in 24 countries from five continents. In total, 5856 responses were analyzed;83.5% of comments were from Facebook, while 16.5% were from Twitter. In Facebook, the overall vaccine acceptance was 40.3%;the lowest acceptance rates were evident in Jordan (8.5%), Oman (15.0%), Senegal (20.0%) and Morocco (20.7%) and the continental acceptance rate was the lowest in North America 22.6%. In Twitter, the overall acceptance rate was (41.5%);the lowest acceptance rate was found in Oman (14.3%), followed by USA (20.5%), and UK (23.3%) and the continental acceptance rate was the lowest in North America (20.5%), and Europe (29.7%). The differences in vaccine acceptance across countries and continents in Facebook and Twitter were statistically significant. Regarding the tone of the comments, in Facebook, countries that had the highest number of serious tone comments were Sweden (90.9%), USA (61.3%), and Thailand (58.8%). At continent level, serious comments were the highest in Asia (58.4%), followed by Africa (46.2%) and South America (46.2%). In Twitter, the highest serious tone was reported in Egypt (72.2%) while at continental level, the highest proportion of serious comments was observed in Asia (59.7%), followed by Europe (46.5%). The differences in tone across countries and continents in Facebook and Twitter and were statistically significant. There was a significant association between the tone and the position of comments. We concluded that the overall vaccine acceptance in social media was relatively low and varied across the studied countries and continents. Consequently, more in-depth studies are required to address causes of such VH and combat infodemics.
ABSTRACT
Background: The impact of coronavirus pandemic (COVID19) on healthcare professionals (HCPs) is an issue of global concern. Occupational burnout among HCPs has been reported by several studies. However, pandemic-related burnout needs further investigation especially among frontline HCPs. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of burnout syndrome among HCPs working at COVID-19 isolation facilities in Egypt and Sudan. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among frontline HCPs in Egypt and Sudan from May 2021 to July 2021. An online, anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Occupational burnout was estimated using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. Data analyzed using SPSS software. Results: A total of 362 HCPs participated in the study and were equally recruited from Egypt (181) and Sudan (181) with mean age of (31.84 ± 8.32) years. More than half were females (60%) and were physicians (58.3%). Most healthcare professionals included in the study had high levels of work disengagement (75.4%) and emotional exhaustion (98.6%). Burnout syndrome was present in 75% of the HCPs with 77% prevalence among Egyptian HCPs and 71% prevalence among Sudanese HCPs. The parameters that are associated with burnout syndrome among Egyptian HCPs were working hours per week; while for Sudanese HCPs, these were age and number of days off. Conclusion: The study revealed a high prevalence of burnout syndrome among HCPs working at COVID-19 isolation facilities in Egypt and Sudan. Appropriate actions should be taken to preserve mental health status of HCPs through establishment of effective and efficient coping strategies.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections , COVID-19ABSTRACT
Background SARS coronavirus number 2 or SARS-CoV-2 emerged as a pandemic in 2019 and affected millions of people with a large number of deaths. Since no cure for this highly spreadable virus is known till now the need for a rapid vaccine development started early and the vaccination process started in December 2020 with many types of vaccines of different techniques.This research aimed to shed the light on different studies evaluating the efficacy, effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in phase III trials.Method Online database search was performed, and all relevant randomized controlled trials and observational studies considering COVID-19 vaccination by any type of vaccine and to any age were included. A meta-analysis was conducted to measure the efficacy/ effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines to prevent mortality and to reduce severe infection after the first & the second dose. Assessment of risk of bias, publication bias & heterogenicity were also performed.Results From 21567 screened articles twenty-five studies were eligible for quantitative analysis. The odds ratio of mortality 7 days after full vaccination decreased significantly among vaccinated compared to the unvaccinated group OR=0.14 (95CI, 0.05-0.41), I2=63%. In total 213 of 4807683 vaccinated people developed severe COVID-19 one week after the second dose, compared to 3298 of unvaccinated 1915476 subjects. The OR of having severe COVID-19 decreased by 0.08 (0.03-0.25), I2 was 74%. Vaccination was also significant in reducing COVID-19 infection in either symptomatic or asymptomatic cases.Conclusion This study showed that most vaccines have comparable efficacy and effectiveness, and it is believed that with the mass vaccination of COVID-19, it is possible to control the infection and end this global pandemic
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections , COVID-19ABSTRACT
Background and aim Following emergency approval of vaccines, the amount of scientific literature investigating population hesitancy towards vaccination against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has increased exponentially. Nevertheless, the associated psychological behaviors with this phenomenon are still not clearly understood. This study aims to assess the psychological antecedents of the Arab population toward COVID-19 vaccines. Methods A cross-sectional, online study using a validated Arabic version of the 5C questionnaire was conducted through different media platforms in different Arabic-speaking countries. The questionnaire included three sections: socio-demographics, COVID-19 related questions, and the 5C scale of vaccine psychological antecedents, namely confidence, complacency, constraints, calculation, and collective responsibility. Results A total of 4,474 participants, 40.8% males from 13 Arab countries were included in the study. About 26.7% of participants had confidence in COVID-19 vaccination, 10.7% had complacency, 96.5% had no constraints, 48.8% had calculation and 40.4% had collective responsibility. The 5C antecedents showed variation among countries with confidence and collective responsibility being higher in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (59% and 58%, respectively), complacency and constraints were higher in Morocco (21% and 7%, respectively) and calculation was higher in Sudan (60%). Regression analysis revealed that sex, age, educational degrees, being a health care professional, getting a COVID-19 infection, having a relative infected or died from COVID-19 can affect the 5C psychological antecedents by different degrees. Conclusion and recommendations Wide variations of psychological antecedents between Arab countries exist. Different determinants can affect vaccine psychological antecedents.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
Background: The presented meta-analysis was developed in response to the publication of several studies addressing COVID-19 vaccines hesitancy. We aimed to identify the proportion of vaccine acceptance and rejection, and factors affecting vaccine hesitancy worldwide especially with the fast emergency approval of vaccines. Methods: Online database search was performed, and relevant studies were included with no language restriction. A meta-analysis was conducted using R software to obtain the random effect model of the pooled prevalence of vaccine acceptance and rejection. Egger regression test was performed to assess publication bias. Quality assessment was assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality assessment tool. Results: Thirty-nine out of 12246 articles met the predefined inclusion criteria. All studies were cross-sectional designs. The pooled proportion of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was 17% (95% CI: 14-20) while the pooled proportion of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was 75% (95% CI: 71-79). The vaccine hesitancy and the vaccine acceptance showed high heterogeneity (I 2 =100%). Case fatality ratio and the number of reported cases had significant effect on the vaccine acceptance as the pooled proportion of vaccine acceptance increased by 39.95% (95% CI: 20.1-59.8) for each 1% increase in case fatality (P<0.0001) and decreased by 0.1% (95% CI: -0.2-0.01) for each 1000 reported case of COVID-19, P= 0.0183). Conclusion: Transparency in reporting the number of newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases and deaths is mandatory as these factors are the main determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
Background Willingness of healthcare workers to be vaccinated is an important factor to be consider for successful COVID-19 vaccination programme. Our study aimed to understand the willingness of health workers to receive COVID-19 vaccine and associated concerns across 10 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO). Method A cross-sectional study was conducted in January 2021 among healthcare workers using an online survey. A total of 2806 health workers (Physicians, Nurses and Pharmacists) completed and returned the informed consent along with the questionnaire electronically. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS software package version 20.0. S Results More than half of the respondents (58.0%) were willing to receive COVID-19 vaccine, even if the vaccination is not mandatory for them. On the other hand, 25.7% of respondents were not willing to undertake COVID-19 vaccination while 16.3 % answered undecided. The top three reasons for not intending to be vaccinated were unreliability of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials (62.0%), fear of the side effects of the vaccine (45.3%), and that COVID-19 vaccine will not give immunity for a long period of time (23.1%). Conclusion Overall, our study revealed suboptimal acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine among our respondents in the EMRO region. Significant refusal of COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare professionals can reverse hard-won progress in building public trust in COVID-19 vaccination program. Our findings suggest the need to develop tailored strategies to address concerns identified in the study in order to ensure optimal vaccine acceptance among healthcare workers in the EMRO.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
Background Corona virus disease (covid-19) is an emerging highly infectious disease caused by novel corona virus (SARS-CoV-2). Several public health and social protective measures that may prevent or slow down the transmission of the COVID-19 were introduced. However, these measures are unfortunately neglected or deliberately ignored by some individuals. Objective To identify the factors influencing intention to adhere to precautionary measures againstCOVID-19 in Sudan. Methods and Design Cross sectional online based survey using virtual convenience sampling technique. Variables Measured Perceived threat of corona virus (perceived severity and perceived susceptibility), perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy and intention to adhere to precautionary behavior towards COVID-19 Results The significant predictors of intention to adhere to the precautionary behavior against COVID-19 were: gender ({beta} =3.34, P <0.001), self-efficacy ({beta}= 0.476, P<0.001), perceived benefits ({beta}= 0.349, P<0.001) and perceived severity ({beta}= 0.113, P=0.005). These factors explained 43% of the variance in participants intention to adhere to the protective measures. Participants who were female, confident in their ability to adhere to the protective measures when available, believing in the benefits of the protective measures against COVID-19 and perceiving that the disease could have serious consequences were more likely to be willing to adhere to the protective measures. Conclusion Health Belief model is a useful framework for addressing factors influencing intention to adhere to precautionary behavior during COVID pandemic.