COVID-19 Vaccination-Related Concerns Amongst Healthcare Workers

Objective: To assess the concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination amongst healthcare workers of a medical university in Karachi. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Baqai Medical University, Karachi from 15th July 2021 to 30th September 2022. A total of 197 healthcare workers, using a non-probability convenience sampling technique, were interviewed about their concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination, using a structured online questionnaire. Data were analyzed on SPSS version 20. To determine the association of demographic characteristics with concerns of healthcare workers about COVID-19 vaccination, binary logistic regression was applied for inferential analysis. A two-tailed p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 38.28±11.73 years, the majority were females (n=110, 55.8%), married (n=132, 67.0%), doctors by profession (n=129, 65.5%), non-smoker (n=169, 85.8%) and had no comorbidity (n=155, 78.7%). Out of 197 participants, 66 (33.5%) respondents exhibited their concerns regarding the side effects and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination. Furthermore, doctors were found to have significantly lower odds of having concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccination than nurses/paramedics (AOR 0.17, 95% CI 0.08-0.34, p<0.001). Conclusion: A substantial number of healthcare workers revealed their concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine. Compulsion for vaccination may lead to inert participation towards COVID-19 vaccination programs. It is therefore imperative to address their concerns on an urgent basis. Keywords: COVID-19, Vaccination, Health Personnel, Vaccine Hesitancy, Vaccine Efficacy