COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its associated factors among Health Care Workers of Islamabad

ABSTRACT

Background: Covid-19 has been declared a global pandemic by WHO. Health Care Workers (HCWs) being the front-line warriors have been most exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Vaccine hesitancy against Covid-19 has been seen among HCWs. The main aim of the research was to find the hesitancy rates of vaccine among HCWs and the pulling and pushing factors to get vaccinated. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on HCWs. Questionnaires on Google forms were sent to all participants through their WhatsApp number and data was analysed through SPSS version 23.0. Results: Out of 81 HCWs selected, 51.9% (n=42) were initially hesitant when the vaccine was first introduced. The main pulling factor initially to get vaccinated was to shield loved ones, 38.75% (n=31) and 46.2% (n=37) of them received a booster dose of vaccine mainly due to employment requirements. Out of the total, 19.75% (n=16) are still hesitant even after vaccination and the most common pushing factors were fear of the side effects and inadequately tested vaccines. Conclusion: Though the majority of the HCWs got vaccinated, vaccine hesitancy is still present among the HCWs and the major reason is uncertainty about the side effects it could cause in the long term.