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
. 2021 Aug;75(8):e14336.
doi: 10.1111/ijcp.14336. Epub 2021 May 26.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: A community-based research in Turkey

Hatice İkiışık  1 , Mehmet Akif Sezerol  2 , Yusuf Taşçı  2 , Işıl Maral  1
Affiliations

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: A community-based research in Turkey

Hatice İkiışık et al. Int J Clin Pract. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Aim: The frequency of vaccine refusal and hesitation, which is associated with many factors, is increasing worldwide. The purpose of this study is to estimate the frequency of vaccine refusal against COVID-19 vaccines and to identify the underlying factors for refusal or hesitation.

Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional study carried out in a district of Istanbul from 25 to 30 December 2020. A sample of people from the ages of 20 to 85 in the district was selected, and a total of 384 people were enrolled. A questionnaire about the COVID-19 vaccine was administered to the participants by phone. The questionnaire consisted of questions about the sociodemographic characteristics of participants and their thoughts about possible COVID-19 vaccines.

Results: 45.3% of the participants were hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, which was declared appropriate by the Ministry of Health. The rate of those who think that the COVID-19 vaccine will be effective in preventing and controlling the disease was 51.6%. 89.6% of the participants were hesitant about getting their children vaccinated. Those who do not consider COVID-19 disease as a risk to their health were 22.9%, and 32.8% thought that they would be protected from the disease by natural and traditional ways. The median score of the participants' risk perception was 7 (IQR: 6-8; Mean: 6.8; SD: 1.7). The median value of risk perception score of those who accept the vaccine was 6 (IQR: 4-6), while the median value for those who did not accept the vaccine was 4 (IQR: 4-6) (P < .01). Factors affecting vaccine acceptance were determined as the perception of risk (OR: 1.26% 95CI 1.03-1.55) and age (OR: 0.94% 95CI: 0.91-0.98) in logistic regression analysis.

Conclusion: Half of the participants were hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccines. The success of COVID-19 vaccination programmes largely depends on the public willingness to accept the vaccine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow chart of the study sampling method
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization (WHO): Coronavirus Disease (COVID‐19) Dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/. Accessed January 2021.
    1. Nicola M, Alsafi Z, Sohrabi C, et al. The socio‐economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID‐19): a review. Int J Surg. 2020;78:185‐193. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abrams EM, Szefler SJ. COVID‐19 and the impact of social determinants of health. Lancet Respir Med. 2020;8(7):659‐661. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ministry of Health of Turkey Covid‐19 Patient Table. https://covid19.saglik.gov.tr/. Accessed January 2021.
    1. Ministry of Interior . Within the Scope of Combating Coronavirus—Circulars on New Restrictions and Measures. https://www.icisleri.gov.tr/koronavirus‐ile‐mucadele‐kapsaminda‐sokaga‐c.... Accessed January 2021.