Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov 20:13:1657-1663.
doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S276771. eCollection 2020.

Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in Saudi Arabia: A Web-Based National Survey

Mohammed Al-Mohaithef  1 , Bijaya Kumar Padhi  2
Affiliations

Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in Saudi Arabia: A Web-Based National Survey

Mohammed Al-Mohaithef et al. J Multidiscip Healthc. .

Abstract

Background: Vaccine hesitancy is a potential threat to global public health. Since there is an unprecedented global effort to develop a vaccine against the COVID-19 pandemic, much less is known about its acceptance in the community. Understanding key determinants that influence the preferences and demands of a future vaccine by the community may help to develop strategies for improving the global vaccination program. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine and their determinants among people in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A web-based, cross-sectional study was conducted using snowball sampling strategy under a highly restricted environment. A bilingual, self-administered anonymous questionnaire was designed and sent to the study participants through social media plat-forms and email. Study participants were recruited across the country, including the four major cities (Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, and Abha) in Saudi Arabia. Key determinants that predict vaccine acceptance among respondents were modelled using logistic regression analysis. Of the 1000 survey invitees, 992 responded to the survey.

Results: Of the 992 respondents, 642 showed interest to accept the COVID-19 vaccine if it is available. Willingness to accept the future COVID-19 vaccine is relatively high among older age groups, being married participants with education level postgraduate degree or higher (68.8%), non-Saudi (69.1%), employed in government sector (68.9%). In multivariate model, respondents who were above 45 years (aOR: 2.15; 95% CI: 1.08-3.21) and married (aOR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.28-2.50) were significantly associated with vaccine acceptance (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Addressing sociodemographic determinants relating to the COVID-19 vaccination may help to increase uptake of the global vaccination program to tackle future pandemics. Targeted health education interventions are needed to increase the uptake of the future COVID-19 vaccine.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccine; Saudi Arabia; coronavirus; perceived risk; trust; vaccine hesitancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

References

    1. Chakraborty C, Sharma AR, Sharma G, Bhattacharya M, Lee SS. SARS-CoV-2 causing pneumonia-associated respiratory disorder (COVID-19): diagnostic and proposed therapeutic options. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2020;24(7):4016–4026. - PubMed
    1. Saha RP, Sharma AR, Singh MK, et al. Repurposing drugs, ongoing vaccine, and new therapeutic development initiatives against COVID-19. Front Pharmacol. 2020;11. doi:10.3389/fphar.2020.01258 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chakraborty C, Sharma AR, Bhattacharya M, Sharma G, Lee SS. The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: a zoonotic prospective. Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2020;13(6):242.
    1. Chakraborty C, Sharma AR, Sharma G, Bhattacharya M, Saha RP, Lee -S-S. Extensive partnership, collaboration, and teamwork is required to stop the COVID-19 outbreak. Arch Med Res. 2020;51(7):728–730. doi:10.1016/j.arcmed.2020.05.021 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barry M, Ghonem L, Alsharidi A, et al. Coronavirus disease‑2019 pandemic in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: mitigation measures and hospital preparedness. J Nat Sci Med. 2020;2.