Attitudes of family medicine residents in Ankara towards COVID-19 vaccines administered in Turkey: a descriptive, cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background. The difficulty of accessing accurate information during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many questions being asked to family physicians about vaccination. Objectives. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of Family Medicine (FM) residents in Ankara about the inactivated and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines being administered in Turkey. Material and methods. An anonymous online survey was distributed to FM residents between 22.05.2021–06.06.2021. Information on socio-demographic data and residents’ attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines administered in Turkey were evaluated. Results. 11.1% of the participants were not vaccinated for the following reasons: having positive Anti-Spike antibody values, think-ing that there had not been enough studies on vaccines, vaccine safety concerns, belief that innate immunity would be more pro-tective, pregnancy, breastfeeding or not believing in the protection of the vaccine. While 12.2% of the participants recommended Sinovac-CoronaVac, 23.7% recommended Pfizer/BioNTech, and 63.3% stated that they would evaluate the patient and make recom-mendations. Most of the participants stated that they thought the Pfizer/BioNTech is more protective against new variants (70.4%), more effective and produces a higher antibody response (84.2%) and provides longer-term protection (74.8%). However, 74.1% of the participants stated that they thought Sinovac-CoronaVac is safer. Sinovac-CoronaVac was recommended to patients with a history of allergic reaction/anaphylaxis (69.8%), autoimmune diseases (60.4%), oncology/chemotherapy patients (49.6%), immunosuppressed patients (49.6) and lactating women (44.6%). Conclusions. In some case-basis recommendations, it was seen that the residents showed a traditionalist approach. Informing individuals based on scientific information on the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines by family physicians is crucial. © by Wydawnictwo Continuo.