COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Healthcare Workers and Attitude Changes During the Pandemic

Objective: Many healthcare workers (HCWs) hesitated or refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic. The attitudes of HCWs toward vaccines have an impact on society and patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the reasons for vaccine hesitancy and refusal among HCWs during the COVID pandemic. Materials and Methods: We planned a two-step descriptive survey study. In the first step, we surveyed the unvaccinated HCWs in our hospital face-to-face after the first vaccination program. After eight months, we conducted another survey with the unvaccinated HCWs over the phone. We investigated the changes in their attitudes between the two surveys and the relationship of vaccine hesitation with their occupation and COVID-19 history. Results: After the first vaccine program, 325 (21.2%) HCWs out of 1532 did not get vaccinated in our hospital. We found that there was a significant relationship between vaccine hesitancy and occupation. In our study, the group of “non-HCWs” had the highest vaccine hesitancy rate at the beginning. The most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy were breastfeeding and pregnancy (29.5%) and side effects, especially allergic reactions (18.0%). After eight months, in the second survey, vaccine hesitancy dropped to 5.6%. We found that 80.1% of the HCWs who stated they were planning to get vaccinated in the first survey were vaccinated, and 62.4% of those who were not planning it were vaccinated. In the second survey, 1.8% of HCWs were still planning the vaccination, but 3.8% of HCWs refused the COVID-19 vaccine. Not believing in the efficacy of the vaccine in the first survey was associated with vaccine refusal in the second survey (p=0.001). Conclusion: The overall rate of vaccine refusal was low among HCWs. Nevertheless, vaccine refusal among HCWs having more information about the vaccine and disease than the community may be related to cultural, psychological, and political reasons other than efficacy and safety. Future studies on the cultural, psychological, and political reasons for vaccine refusal will contribute to understanding vaccine refusal and increasing vaccine acceptance. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine hesitancy, healthcare workers