Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
50th ESCP Symposium on Clinical Pharmacy, Polypharmacy and ageing - highly individualized, interprofessional, person-centered care, Praha, Çek Cumhuriyeti, 19 - 21 Ekim 2022, cilt.44, ss.1514
Intention and hesitancy to receive a booster COVID-19 dose among Turkish community pharmacists: a cross-sectional observational study
Background and Objective: COVID-19 is a novel emerging, rapidly propagating illness that is overwhelming most of resources of efficient healthcare systems. It is essential for health officials worldwide to estimate the willingness to take a boost dose (s) of the available COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy is a complex phenomenon and context specific, varying across time, place, and vaccines. Studies are also continuing to evaluate healthcare providers’ intention to receive a boost COVID-19 vaccine during COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the intention and hesitancy to receive a boost dose (s) of COVID-19 vaccine among Turkish community pharmacists in Istanbul, Turkey.
Method: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted among a convenient sample size of community pharmacists working in Istanbul, Turkey. Intention and hesitancy to receive a boost dose (s) of COVID -19 vaccine were assessed via Google forms using a 24-item questionnaire consisting of 5-item demographic characteristics, and 12-item questionnaires assessing the intention and hesitancy to receive a boost dose (s) of COVID vaccine based on the vaccine hesitancy questionnaire answered on a 5-point Likert scale.
Main outcome measures: Assessment of the intention and hesitancy to receive a boost dose (s) of COVID vaccine based on the vaccine hesitancy questionnaire answered on a 5-point Likert scale.
Results: A total of 145 community pharmacists with an average age of 44.2 ± 14.3 years were included in this study. Majority of the respondents were females (66.2%), had Bachelor pharmacy degree (70%), and had more than 10 years of work experience (46%). 97.2% were fully vaccinated and 90.3% received full doses of Pfizer vaccination. 54.5% received information about the importance of boost vaccine dose, of whom 37.2% received this information based on physician advice, respectively. Regarding the hesitancy to receive a boost dose (s) of COVID vaccine, 71.7% and 79.3% agreed to receive a boost vaccine dose, and from the same vaccine brand, respectively. 97.2% agreed to follow the instructions of healthcare providers to recieve a boost dose vaccine, while 83.4% agreed about the effectiveness of a boost vaccine dose. 56.5% disagree about concerns from serious adverse effects of a boost COVID-19 vaccine.
Conclusion: This study highlights that there is high level of knowledge about the importance of vaccination demonstrated as a high rate of intention and low level of hesitancy to recieve a boost dose of COVID-19 vaccine among Turkish community pharmacists. Our findings reveal that vaccination intention could be used for to inform policy-makers to take this under consideration to achieve better vaccination results.
Disclosure of Interest: None Declared.