Knowledge, attitude, and practice of the Saudi population toward COVID-19 vaccination: A cross-sectional study

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination is the most effective protective measure to control the spread of infections and provide protection against hospitalization and mortality during the pandemic. There was a necessity to measure public knowledge and acceptance for COVID-19 vaccines in different countries. Thus, the current study is aimed at evaluating the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the population in all regions of Saudi towards COVID-19 vaccination. This was a cross-sectional, online self-reported survey of Saudi residents that was conducted between March 2021 and April 2021. To be eligible for the study, participants had to be above 18 years old. All participants were adult, Arabic speakers and residents of Saudi Arabia. In total, 1658 adults participated in this study and showed high knowledge (81.8%), attitude (71.2%), and practice (59.3%). The level of knowledge, attitude, and practice differed based on different demographic characteristics. Regression analysis showed that having a low income, low education level, and middle-aged status, living in a village, and being married were associated with lower scores in knowledge, attitude, or practice. Targeted education and campaigns should be provided for these populations to increase their knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 vaccination.

Public acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among residents of Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional online study

OBJECTIVES

The acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine is essential for protecting the world population and stopping the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper aimed to measure public acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccination and the factors that may play an important role in increasing the acceptance of vaccinations in future pandemics.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted through a survey designed using the Google Forms platform. In this study, a logistic regression analysis was used to study and detect the variables linked to the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination. To meet inclusion criteria, participants had to be 18 years or older at the time of collecting the data, reside in Saudi Arabia at the time of the survey, agree to the consent form and be able to complete the survey in Arabic.

SETTING

Randomly selected residents of Saudi Arabia.

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS

1658.

RESULTS

In general, the population of Saudi Arabia is supportive of the COVID-19 vaccine (72.0%) and has one of the highest acceptance rates, according to global studies. We found that men (OR 0.73; 95% CI: 0.55 to 0.97) were less likely to hesitate with regard to taking the vaccine, whereas previously infected individuals were more likely to hesitate (OR 1.77; 95% CI: 1.25 to 2.50). Those with a lower monthly income (<3000 Saudi riyal) were more likely to refuse the vaccine (OR 3.54; 95% CI: 1.81 to 6.91), while those living in cities (OR 0.62; 95% CI: 0.39 to 0.99) and the unemployed (OR 0.52; 95% CI: 0.33 to 0.83) were less likely to refuse it. Participants' history of viral infection and trust in the healthcare system were found to be important factors in the public's acceptance of the vaccine.

CONCLUSION

In general, acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccination is high in Saudi Arabia. Several factors have shown a method for predicting those who might reject the vaccine or hesitate to take it; thus, the healthcare system should target those residents throughout the campaign. Based on the conclusions of the current research, the acceptance of vaccinations could be increased.

Impact of contamination on biology, biochemical, and histology of Eobania vermiculata and Monacha obstructa during different seasons in Ismailia, Egypt.. [DOI: 10.1101/2021.12.14.472665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0]

Land snails are found to be an appropriate sentinel organism, and the biomarkers chosen are effective for terrestrial heavy metal biomonitoring. The study aimed to compare the biological, biochemistry, and histology of two land snails in the Ismailia governorate, Egypt during different seasons. Random snails were collected from January 2015 to December 2015 from two sites in the Ismailia Governorate, on wet days during each season’s middle month. Soft tissues were taken from the dissected snails. It was noticed that most of the morphometric parameters measured shell height (ShH), last whorl width (LWW), maximum diameter (MaxD), aperture height (AH), and aperture width (AW) were higher in Eobania vermiculata (Sp. 1) than those measured in Monacha obstructa (Sp. 2), except for shell height measurement, which was the same in both species. The growth rate of Sp. 1 and Sp. 2 changed seasonally. In the more polluted areas with heavy metals, lipid peroxidation (LPO) was higher in snails and total protein content than in the snails collected from the less polluted areas for all seasons. However, the snails displayed lower levels of glutathione (GSH) as compared to snails at a less polluted site. GSH and LPO levels, on the other hand, have a negative relationship between them. Histopathological alterations in the digestive gland were more obvious in the general architecture of the digestive gland that had lost its tubular appearance. The excretory cells showed an increase in their excretory granules’ number and size while calcium cells decreased. Also, gonad follicles have lost their normal architecture with the degeneration of some stages of spermatogenesis and oogenesis. In conclusion, There was a strong correlation between GSH levels and total protein content in the same soft tissues. GSH and LPO levels, on the other hand, have a negative relationship. The overall results display the usefulness of E. vermiculata and M. obstructa land snails as bioindicator organisms and support the application of this ecotoxicological approach for evaluating the biologic impact of toxins. E. vermiculata is more abundant than M. obstructa. The density, morphometric, biochemical, and histology of E. vermiculata and M. obstructa were different at different seasons.