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Attitudes of Lebanese adults regarding COVID-19 vaccination.
BMC Public Health. 2021 05 27; 21(1):998.BP

Abstract

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 was first detected in Lebanon on February 21, 2020; it reached its peak in January 2021, with a total number of 418,448 confirmed cases and 5380 deaths (until March 15, 2021). Gaining insight into factors regarding willingness or refusal for vaccination might guide our goals in raising the awareness and target efforts to increase acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine and maximize the uptake. Therefore, this study aims to assess the intent to receive the COVID-19 vaccine among Lebanese adults and the factors associated with vaccine refusal.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study during November-December 2020 among Lebanese adults from all Lebanese regions using a survey tool with closed-ended questions that included sociodemographic data and questions about vaccine hesitancy, knowledge, attitude, practice, and fear of COVID-19. We used the snowball technique to collect the data because of the COVID-19 imposed lockdown.

RESULTS

Of the 579 participants, 21.4% were willing to receive the vaccine, 40.9% refused, and the remainder were unsure of their response. More vaccine hesitancy (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.06; 95% CI 1.03-1.09) was significantly associated with more odds of disagreeing/ strongly disagreeing on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine compared to being neutral. More vaccine hesitancy (aOR = 0.95; 95% CI 0.91-0.99), female gender compared to males (aOR = 0.53; 95% CI 0.32-0.87), and being married compared to single (aOR = 0.53; 95% CI 0.29-0.98) were significantly associated with lower odds of agreeing/strongly agreeing on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine compared to being neutral.

CONCLUSION

Overall, our findings revealed a high percentage of people (40%) who strongly disagreed with receiving the vaccine, mainly females, married participants, and those who have a general vaccine hesitancy. Moreover, no significant association was found with knowledge, attitude, or prevention practice regarding COVID-19. Targeted efforts are necessary to increase acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine among the Lebanese population to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Further studies with a larger sample size are warranted to validate our results and provide better insights into the underlying reasons for refusing vaccination.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Kasrine Al Halabi C
Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Jounieh, Lebanon.
Obeid S
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Jounieh, Lebanon. INSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d'Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie-Liban), Beirut, Lebanon. Research and Psychology Departments, Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross, Jal Eddib, Lebanon.
Sacre H
INSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d'Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie-Liban), Beirut, Lebanon.
Akel M
INSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d'Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie-Liban), Beirut, Lebanon. School of Pharmacy, Lebanese International University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Hallit R
Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Jounieh, Lebanon. Infectious Disease Department, Bellevue Medical Center, Mansourieh, Lebanon. Infectious Disease Department, Notre-Dame des Secours University Hospital, Byblos, Cyprus.
Salameh P
INSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d'Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie-Liban), Beirut, Lebanon. Faculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Hadat, Lebanon. University of Nicosia Medical School, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Hallit S
Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Jounieh, Lebanon. souheilhallit@hotmail.com. INSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d'Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie-Liban), Beirut, Lebanon. souheilhallit@hotmail.com.

MeSH

AdultAttitudeCOVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesCommunicable Disease ControlCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLebanonMalePandemicsSARS-CoV-2Vaccination

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

34044790

Citation

Kasrine Al Halabi, Carina, et al. "Attitudes of Lebanese Adults Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination." BMC Public Health, vol. 21, no. 1, 2021, p. 998.
Kasrine Al Halabi C, Obeid S, Sacre H, et al. Attitudes of Lebanese adults regarding COVID-19 vaccination. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):998.
Kasrine Al Halabi, C., Obeid, S., Sacre, H., Akel, M., Hallit, R., Salameh, P., & Hallit, S. (2021). Attitudes of Lebanese adults regarding COVID-19 vaccination. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 998. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10902-w
Kasrine Al Halabi C, et al. Attitudes of Lebanese Adults Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination. BMC Public Health. 2021 05 27;21(1):998. PubMed PMID: 34044790.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Attitudes of Lebanese adults regarding COVID-19 vaccination. AU - Kasrine Al Halabi,Carina, AU - Obeid,Sahar, AU - Sacre,Hala, AU - Akel,Marwan, AU - Hallit,Rabih, AU - Salameh,Pascale, AU - Hallit,Souheil, Y1 - 2021/05/27/ PY - 2021/02/03/received PY - 2021/04/19/accepted PY - 2021/5/28/entrez PY - 2021/5/29/pubmed PY - 2021/6/3/medline KW - Covid-19 KW - Hesitancy KW - Lebanon KW - Pandemic KW - Vaccine SP - 998 EP - 998 JF - BMC public health JO - BMC Public Health VL - 21 IS - 1 N2 - BACKGROUND: COVID-19 was first detected in Lebanon on February 21, 2020; it reached its peak in January 2021, with a total number of 418,448 confirmed cases and 5380 deaths (until March 15, 2021). Gaining insight into factors regarding willingness or refusal for vaccination might guide our goals in raising the awareness and target efforts to increase acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine and maximize the uptake. Therefore, this study aims to assess the intent to receive the COVID-19 vaccine among Lebanese adults and the factors associated with vaccine refusal. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study during November-December 2020 among Lebanese adults from all Lebanese regions using a survey tool with closed-ended questions that included sociodemographic data and questions about vaccine hesitancy, knowledge, attitude, practice, and fear of COVID-19. We used the snowball technique to collect the data because of the COVID-19 imposed lockdown. RESULTS: Of the 579 participants, 21.4% were willing to receive the vaccine, 40.9% refused, and the remainder were unsure of their response. More vaccine hesitancy (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.06; 95% CI 1.03-1.09) was significantly associated with more odds of disagreeing/ strongly disagreeing on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine compared to being neutral. More vaccine hesitancy (aOR = 0.95; 95% CI 0.91-0.99), female gender compared to males (aOR = 0.53; 95% CI 0.32-0.87), and being married compared to single (aOR = 0.53; 95% CI 0.29-0.98) were significantly associated with lower odds of agreeing/strongly agreeing on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine compared to being neutral. CONCLUSION: Overall, our findings revealed a high percentage of people (40%) who strongly disagreed with receiving the vaccine, mainly females, married participants, and those who have a general vaccine hesitancy. Moreover, no significant association was found with knowledge, attitude, or prevention practice regarding COVID-19. Targeted efforts are necessary to increase acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine among the Lebanese population to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Further studies with a larger sample size are warranted to validate our results and provide better insights into the underlying reasons for refusing vaccination. SN - 1471-2458 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/34044790/Attitudes_of_Lebanese_adults_regarding_COVID_19_vaccination_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -