Evaluation of Nurses' Vaccine Hesitancy, Psychological Resilience, and Anxiety Levels During COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the vaccine hesitancy, psychological resilience, and anxiety levels of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 676 nurses working at the survey time. Sociodemographic features, the status of hesitancy against the COVID-19 vaccine, the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, and the Brief Resilience Scale were used in the questionnaire form to collect the data. RESULTS: Most participants (68.6%; n=464) stated they were hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine. A sig- nificantly higher rate of hesitancy was detected in the age group of 20-39 years, those who did not have COVID-19 vaccine, and those who did not think the COVID-19 vaccine is protective (P < .05). It was determined that 6.8% (n=46) of the nurses had COVID-19 anxiety. A significantly higher rate of anxiety was detected in the age group of 40 years and older, those working in the emergency department, and those working in the COVID-19 unit during the pandemic period (P < .05). The median Brief Resilience Scale score of nurses is 19(6). A negative, weak, and significant relationship was found between the Brief Resilience Scale and Coronavirus Anxiety Scale scores (P = .001). CONCLUSION: During the pandemic, higher rates of anxiety were detected in healthcare personnel and those working in COVID-19 units. It was also found that as the level of anxiety increased, the level of psychological resilience decreased. To reduce the anxiety level and strengthen the psychological resilience of nurses, the cornerstones of the health system, fast, effective, and curative interventions should be made.

Reasons for parental hesitancy or refusal of childhood vaccination in Türkiye.

Background: Although vaccines play a critical role in the control of infectious diseases and disease outbreaks, vaccination rates have been declining in recent years because of vaccine hesitancy or refusal. Aims: We aimed to determine the rates and reasons for parental hesitancy or refusal of vaccination for their children in Türkiye. Method: A total of 1100 participants selected from 26 regions of Türkiye were involved in this cross-sectional study conducted between July 2020 and April 2021. Using a questionnaire, we collected data on the sociodemographic characteristics of parents, the status of vaccine hesitancy or refusal for their children, and reasons for the hesitancy or refusal. Using Excel and SPSS version 22.0, we analysed the data with chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and binomial logistic regression. Results: Only 9.4% of the participants were male and 29.5% were aged 33-37 years. Just over 11% said they were worried about childhood vaccination, mainly because of the chemicals used in manufacturing the vaccines. The level of concern was greater among those who got information about vaccines from the internet, family members, friends, TV, radio, and newspapers. Those who used complementary health services were considerably more hesitant about vaccination than those who used mainstream services. Conclusions: Parents in Türkiye have several reasons for hesitating or refusing to vaccinate their children, key among which are concerns about the chemical composition of the vaccines and their ability to trigger negative health conditions such as autism. This study used a large sample size across Türkiye, although there were differences by region, the findings would be useful in designing interventions to counter vaccine hesitancy or refusal in the country.

Evaluation of the Turkish Population's Perspective on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Routine Childhood Vaccine Applications: National Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: It is important to evaluate the attitude of society towards vaccines to understand the rates of acceptance and hesitance towards vaccination, which are essential components of public health and epidemiology. This study aimed to evaluate the perspective of the Turkish population on COVID-19 status, rate of vaccination, and also to evaluate the reasons for refusal to vaccinate, vaccine hesitancy, and related factors. METHODS: A total of 4539 participants were included in this population-based descriptive and cross-sectional study. The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS-II) was used to obtain a representative sample and for this purpose Turkey was divided into 26 regions. Participants were randomly selected based on the demographic features and population ratios of the selected regions. The following parameters were evaluated: sociodemographic characteristics and perspectives on COVID-19 vaccines, Vaccine Hesitancy Scale Adapted to Pandemics (VHS-P), and Anti-Vaccine Scale-Long Form (AVS-LF) questions. RESULTS: A total of 4539 participants, 2303 (50.7%) male and 2236 (49.3%) female, aged between 18 and 73 years, were included in this study. It was observed that 58.4% of the participants had hesitations towards COVID-19 vaccination, and 19.6% were hesitant about all childhood vaccinations. Those who did not have the COVID-19 vaccine, who did not think that the COVID-19 vaccine was protective, and who had hesitation to vaccinate against COVID-19 had significantly higher median scores on the VHS-P and AVS-LF scales, respectively (all p < 0.01). Those who did not have their children vaccinated in childhood and who were hesitant about childhood vaccinations, had significantly higher median scores on the VHS-P and AVS-LF scales, respectively (all p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Although the rate of vaccination for COVID-19 was 93.4% in the study, hesitation to vaccinate was 58.4%. The median score of the scales of those who were hesitant about childhood vaccinations was higher than individuals who did not have any hesitation. In general, the source of concerns about vaccines should be clearly seen, and precautions should be taken.

Evaluation of Vaccine Hesitancy and Anxiety Levels among Hospital Cleaning Staff and Caregivers during COVID-19 Pandemic.

It is important to vaccinate individuals working in the field of health who are more at risk compared to society during the pandemic period. The aim of this study was to evaluate the vaccine hesitancy and anxiety levels of hospital cleaning staff and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This descriptive type cross-sectional study was conducted with 460 hospital cleaning staff and caregivers. Demographic and social characteristics form, Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), and Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS) adapted to the pandemic were used in the questionnaire form used to collect the data of the study. It was determined that the rates of hesitation against the COVID-19 vaccine and childhood vaccine were 42.2% (n = 194) and 10.9% (n = 50), respectively. Less than half of the participants (44.6%) believe that the COVID-19 vaccine is protective. COVID-19 anxiety (CAS score ≥ 9 point) was detected in 19.6% of participants and statistically significant differences were found between patients with (n = 90) and without (n = 370) anxiety regarding gender (p < 0.001), working unit (p = 0.002), vaccination status (p = 0.023) and history of psychological disease (p = 0.023). It has been shown that the VHS-total scores of those who are not vaccinated, those who are hesitant about vaccination, those who do not think that the vaccine is protective, and those who state that there is no need for a legal obligation in vaccination are higher. When participants were asked about the most anxious situation during the COVID-19 period, the highest response rate was 62.4% for my parents' exposure to COVID-19. The most anxious situation among participants is their parents' exposure to COVID-19. Although participants are highly vaccinated, they have serious hesitancy about the COVID-19 vaccine. This study also showed that there was a parallel relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and vaccine hesitancy.

Knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of Inonu University faculty members regarding childhood vaccine refusal.

INTRODUCTION: Although there is a lot of scientific evidence that the benefits of vaccines outweigh their risks, hesitancy about the safety of vaccines can occur in every segment of the community. In this study, we aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and associated factors of vaccine hesitancy among Inonu University faculty members regarding childhood vaccinations. METHOD: This is a cross-sectional study, and 258 faculty members were included in the study. The questionnaire used in the study explored the sociodemographic characteristics of the faculty members and their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding childhood vaccination. A chi-square test and a fisher exact test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of the faculty members, 31.8% were hesitant about childhood vaccines, 51.9% stated that there were studies reporting the side effects of vaccines, 48.1% did not agree with giving booster doses of vaccines, 35.7% stated that vaccines could cause autism due to the chemicals contained in the vaccines. The most important information sources of university faculty regarding childhood vaccines members are scientific publications and health professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Faculty members level of hesitancy about vaccines was high and since health professionals and scientific articles are the most important information sources of faculty members, misinformation here may affect their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors about vaccination.

Knowledge and behaviors of nurses working at Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center on childhood vaccine refusal.

Among 10 global problems of 2019 determined by the World Health Organization, vaccine refusal was one of the problems mentioned. In this context, health services and health personnel whose main objectives are to keep individuals healthy and to prevent diseases have major responsibilities. This study aims to analyze knowledge and behavior of nurses working at Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center on childhood vaccine refusal.This study, conducted between June and July 2019, is a descriptive cross-sectional study. It was conducted in a hospital located in Malatya in eastern Turkey. At the time of the study, 850 nurses work in this hospital. Sample size was calculated to be 263 at a confidence interval of 95% and strength of 80%. Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used in statistical analyses.In the present study, 31.7% of the participating nurses stated that they had concerns about childhood vaccines. Two-thirds of nurses stated that their knowledge on vaccines was from their education. The level of hesitance in those agreeing to the fact that vaccines caused autism and infertility, those stating that they did not trust vaccine-producing companies, and those stating that catching the disease was a better immunization method than vaccination was significantly higher than those not agreeing to these and those who were indecisive (p < .05).One-third of nurses was proven to have hesitance on childhood vaccines, and this rate is rather high. Nurses, being both health personnel and the communication channel for guiding parents, should be provided necessary training and practices in order to ease their hesitance on vaccination.