ACCEPTANCE OF THE COVID-19 VACCINE AND ITS RELATED FACTORS AMONG IRAQI ADOLESCENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

• Published in: Wiadomości lekarskie (1960) Vol. 76; no. 6; p. 1363
• Main Authors: Assad, Hayder Ch, Rizij, Fadhil A, Hussien, Ayad A, Hadi, Zainab
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Poland 2023
• Subjects: COVID-19; Vaccine; Hesitancy; Adolescents
• ISSN: 0043-5147
• DOI: 10.36740/WLek202306106

The aim: To evaluate the acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccine among adolescents and exploring the association factors that affect the acceptability of the vaccine. Materials and methods: The study is descriptive cross-sectional study based on online survey conducted on 541 adolescents in Iraqi middle Euphrates provinces. Survey data was collected from November 28, 2021 to April 20, 2022. Results: The study showed that about 53% (288 adolescents out of total 541) had not been vaccinated yet and approximately 55% of the not vaccinated adolescents refused to take the vaccine. The mean reasons of this hesitancy were falsified information, insufficient information, concerned about safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. The parents whether infected with COVID-19 or vaccinated considered as strong independent factors that will increase acceptance of vaccination among the adolescents while afraid from the vaccine was considerable independent factor that decrease the acceptance rate. Conclusions: High hesitancy rate toward COVID-19 vaccination among adolescents and their parents play significant role model in increasing the acceptability while concerning of the vaccine safety decreasing acceptability.