Alteration in vaccination rates and an evaluation of physicians’ perceptions of the possible impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on childhood vaccinations in Ankara, Turkey (original) (raw)
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Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 2021
Developing an effective and safe vaccine against Covid-19 will facilitate return to normal. Due to hesitation toward the vaccine, it is crucial to explore the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine to the public and healthcare workers. In this cross-sectional survey, we invited 2251 pediatricians and 506 (22%) of them responded survey and 424 (84%) gave either nasopharyngeal swap or antibody assay for COVID-19 and 71 (14%) of them got diagnosis of COVID-19. If the effective and safe COVID-19 vaccine was launched on market, 420 (83%) of pediatrician accepted to get vaccine shot, 422 (83%) of them recommended vaccination to their family members, 380 (75%) of them accepted to vaccine their children and 445 (85%) of them offered vaccination to their pediatric patients. Among the participated pediatricians 304 (60%) of them thought COVID-19 vaccine should be mandatory. We found that there are high COVID-19 vaccine willingness rates for pediatricians for themselves, their own children, family members and their pediatric patients. We also found that being a pediatric subspecialist, believing in achieving an effective vaccine, willingness to participate in the phase 1-2 clinical vaccine trial, willingness to get an influenza shot this season, believing a vaccine and vaccine passport should be mandatory were significant factors in accepting the vaccine. It is important to share all information about COVID-19 vaccines, especially effectiveness and safety, with the public in a clear communication and transparency. The opposite will contribute to vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine movement.
Erciyes Medical Journal , 2021
Objective: Vaccine hesitancy is driven by many factors and varies across time. People with vaccine hesitancy may change their decision in the case of COVID-19 pandemic. Our study aimed to evaluate parents' pandemic related perceived stress levels and its effects on vaccine hesitation, also their willingness towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was practiced with an open-access online survey program through social networks. Parents aged between 18 and 49 years, who had at least one child and agreed to participate in this study constituted the population (n=440). The questionnaire consisted of 14 questions about socio-demographic characteristics of parents, their attitudes and behaviors about childhood vaccines and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results: Four hundred forty parents participated in this study, 377 (85.7%) of them stated that they thought positively towards the vaccines, 55 (12.5%) were hesitant. After the pandemic, 22 (40.0%) of 55 participants who had hesitations stated that now they believe vaccines are necessary. Of all participants, 43.4% stated they would definitely, 30.5% would probably have the COVID-19 vaccine administered. Participants who had high-stress levels perceived more vaccine hesitation. Conclusion: Pandemia may change people's opinions about vaccine hesitancy. Even if an effective vaccine is developed in case of a pandemic, people need to be told correctly, to create a demand for vaccination.
An Analysis of the Attitudes of Family Physicians Towards the COVID-19 Vaccine
Konuralp Tip Dergisi, 2021
This study has aimed to reveal the opinions of family physicians on the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: The data collection forms prepared for this cross-sectional study were converted into an online questionnaire form and sent to the physicians working as family physicians in different provinces of Turkey between December 2020-January 2021 via emails (GoogleGroups) and communication groups (Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.). The responses of 494 family physicians in Turkey, who were accessible through this method and volunteered to participate in the study, were recorded to be analysed. Results: Of the 494 family physicians in our study, 6.3% (n=31) appeared to have no intention of getting vaccinated against the COVID-19, whereas 13.2% (n=65) were undecided. The opinion towards which the participants in our study had the highest positive attitude was related to the necessity to provide everyone with the COVID-19 vaccine', while the most obvious negative attitude was related to the view that the efficacy of the vaccine has not yet been tested sufficiently. Conclusions: Although a significant majority of family physicians have a positive attitude towards the need for administering the COVID-19 vaccine, more than half have expressed a negative or indecisive attitude towards relying on the statements made about the vaccine and its efficacy, which is said to have been adequately tested. For the desired levels can be reached in terms of vaccination rates, it is necessary to inform family physicians about the efficacy and benefits of the vaccine and to convey this information to individuals through family physicians.
Vaccines
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...
Vaccines
Vaccination hesitancy (VH) is an important public health issue. The determinants of parental decisions on whether to vaccinate their children are multidimensional and need to be carefully considered in the COVID-19 era. Our study aims to investigate the prevalence of VH among parents, parents’ use of social media, and their attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine upon vaccine refusal. Materials and methods: Our participants were the parents of children admitted to hospitals in three different cities in Turkey between September 2021 and December 2021. The parents were asked to complete sociodemographic data and their attitudes toward COVID-19 diseases, the Parental Attitudes Toward Childhood Vaccines (PACV) scale, and the Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccine (ATV-COVID-19) scale. Participants were categorized as “non-hesitant”, with a score of <50, and “hesitant”, with a score of ≥50. Results: A total of 1087 parents with a mean age of 33.66 (SD 9.1) years old participated in the study...
Public opinion regarding the new national children’s obligatory vaccination schedule (2018)
The Egyptian Journal of Community Medicine (Print), 2022
Background: Childhood vaccination has a great role in major worldwide reductions in morbidity and mortality and is considered to be one of the most effective public health interventions in terms of numbers of infections and deaths avoided per year. Objectives: To assess knowledge and practice regarding the new children's obligatory vaccination schedule (2018) and to identify barriers of incomplete vaccination and the sources of their information. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 290 mothers. Through a multistage sampling technique, four health facilities were selected to represent Sharkia governorate whereas the sample units were proportionally allocated. The study included mothers of children younger than one year of age. Mothers were interviewed using the Fahmy questionnaire to assess the socioeconomic status and a modified semi-structured questionnaire to assess mothers' knowledge and practice and to identify sources of their information and possible barriers of incomplete vaccinations. Results: The studied mothers showed an inadequate total knowledge score (61%) and poor total practice (59%). Mothers' age, education, and occupation affected the total knowledge. Mothers' education, occupation, and social class were the determinants affecting the total practice score. Health care providers (71%) and family relatives (67%) were the commonest sources of information. Sick baby (63%) and presence of family problems (31%) were the commonest barriers for none or incomplete immunization. Conclusion: The knowledge and practice of the studied mothers were unsatisfactory. Continuous health education should be provided to overcome the found barriers and encourage complete immunization.
Reasons for non-vaccination during national immunization days: a case study in Istanbul, Turkey
Public Health, 2003
Objective. The member states of the 41st World Health Assembly agreed to aim for the global eradication of polio by the year 2000. Turkey adopted this goal and made substantial progress. In this report, we present the results of a coverage and risk factor survey conducted to evaluate vaccine delivery during the 1999 national immunization days (NIDs) in a large district of Istanbul, Turkey. This study provides important information regarding risk factors and reasons for non-vaccination during the NIDs, defines rumours about the NIDs, and provides estimates of vaccination coverage.
The Situation of Students' COVID-19 Vaccination and Their Views on Vaccination: Turkey Case
Modern care journal, 2023
Background: This research aimed to define the status of young university students in Turkey with the COVID-19 vaccine and their ideas about it. Methods: This descriptive and quantitative study was conducted on 602 undergraduate students of a state university in the central Anatolian region of Turkey in the spring semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews with the students using a questionnaire prepared by the researchers based on the literature. The chi-square test, percentage, and number were used to analyze the data. Results: Of the research participants, 89.7% were COVID-19-vaccinated. Also, 86.7% of vaccinated students had the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, 72.96% had two vaccine doses, and 59.5% had doubts about the vaccine. Conclusions: Opinions about vaccines are affected by some sociodemographic characteristics and expert information.
Children
Although many studies have examined factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination and healthcare professionals’ attitudes towards vaccines, less is known about parents’ and pediatricians’ attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination for children. Using two cross-sectional surveys from November to December 2021 in Greece, we aimed to assess parental intention to vaccinate their 5 to 17 years old children against COVID-19 and to evaluate pediatricians’ attitudes towards children’s vaccination against COVID-19. Overall, 439 parents and 135 pediatricians participated. Of them, 240 (54.7%) intended to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. The most commonly reported reasons for non-intention were the short length of clinical trials and the fear of side effects. Only 16.6% of non-intenders would vaccinate their children if the pediatrician recommended it. The factors associated with higher intention to get vaccinated were a parent’s own vaccination against COVID-19, trust in official healthc...
2021
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