Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions towards vaccination against COVID-19 in a Greek island community

Evgenia Psaraki, Maria Bakola, Konstantina Soultana Kitsou, George Charalambous, Eleni Jelastopulu

Keywords: Cross-sectional study, COVID-19, Vaccination status, vaccination reluctance; Greece

Background:

Efforts to control the spread and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have primarily focused on widespread vaccination campaigns. However, factors beyond vaccine availability play a crucial role in determining individuals' willingness to be vaccinated.

Research questions:

This study aims to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions in a Greek island community regarding COVID-19 vaccination. Additionally, it seeks to determine the vaccination rate, the rate of vaccine refusal, and identify factors influencing vaccination decision-making.

Method:

We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 202 adult participants in Crete during September-October 2021. Data collection was carried out through an online questionnaire. The questionnaire covered socio-demographic information and explored participants' vaccination status, factors influencing acceptance or reluctance, perceptions of vaccine safety, and more.

Results:

Among the participants, 73.3% (n=148) had received the COVID-19 vaccine, while 26.7% (n=54) remained unvaccinated at the time of the study. Reasons for vaccine refusal included mainly concerns about side effects and doubts regarding vaccine safety. Approximately 42.6% believed vaccines offered protection against COVID-19 infections and 42.2% perceived them safe. Moreover, 59.4% of participants felt well-informed about vaccination. Concerning health risks, 36.6% believed vaccines posed a significant danger to their health and 25.2% thought they posed some risk. Additionally, 49.2% of participants considered doctors to have a large or significant influence on their vaccination decision. Multivariable analysis revealed that older age groups were significantly associated with better knowledge and lower perceived health risks from vaccination. Negative attitudes and unfavorable perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines were also significantly associated with being unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Conclusions:

The study reveals a relatively high willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. However, negative attitudes and unfavorable perceptions were identified as significant factors contributing to vaccine refusal. These findings emphasize the crucial role of physicians in promoting positive attitudes, improving knowledge, and influencing perceptions regarding COVID-19 vaccination uptake in the general population.

Points for discussion:

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