COVID-19 Vaccination Booster Dose: Knowledge, Practices, and Intention among Pregnant/Planning to Get Pregnant and Lactating Women

• Published in: Vaccines (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 7; p. 1249
• Main Authors: Al-Qerem, Walid, Jarab, Anan, Shawabkeh, Yara, Ling, Jonathan, Hammad, Alaa, Alazab, Badi'ah, Alasmari, Fawaz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.07.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: booster dose; Clinics; COVID-19 vaccine; COVID-19 vaccines; Disease prevention; Disease transmission; Education; Health attitudes; Health literacy; Immunization; Infections; intention; Knowledge; lactating; Masks; Pregnancy; pregnant; Pregnant women; Psychological aspects; Public health; Questionnaires; Risk perception; Sample size; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Signs and symptoms; Smoking; Surveys; Vaccines; Validity; Womens health; Jordan; lactating; COVID-19 vaccine; booster dose; intention; pregnant
• ISSN: 2076-393X; 2076-393X
• DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11071249

Pregnant women are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms. Therefore, booster dose against COVID-19 was recommended for this special population in Jordan. However, vaccine hesitancy/refusal remains the main obstacle to providing immunity against the spread of COVID-19. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the intention of pregnant/planning to get pregnant and lactating women towards receiving a booster dose against COVID-19 and its associated factors. A questionnaire was given to Jordanian pregnant/planning to get pregnant and lactating females. A total of 695 females were enrolled in the study. Older age, having a chronic disease, high education, high income, and high perceived risk of COVID-19 were significantly associated with higher knowledge about COVID-19. High perceived risk of COVID-19 was significantly associated with better practice. Participants who anticipated they might contract COVID-19 in the next six months, had high perceived risk of COVID-19, had high knowledge, had received the COVID-19 vaccine based on conviction, and smokers had higher intention to receive a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. In order to increase pregnant and lactating women's intention to receive a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, public health organizations should consider developing comprehensive health education campaigns.