International Journal of Healthcare Sciences ISSN 2348-5728 (Online) Vol. 9, Issue 2, pp: (25-31), Month: October 2021 - March 2022, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19: A study among high school students in Montfort College Chiangmai, Thailand Nattaya Bansupa Montfort College, Chiangmai, Thailand
Abstract: Background: The willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 was the determinant in Thailand achieving herd immunity. Unwillingness was the impediment to COVID-19 vaccination. We could assess factors that lead to vaccine refusal and level of willingness by observing factors related to willingness. Objective: To measure level of willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and predictive factors vaccination.
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Methodology: Montfort College students were sent links to complete an online questionnaire. The survey was completed by 341 students. Willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19, knowledge of COVID-19, and attitude toward COVID-19 were all evaluated. Participation was entirely voluntary, and no personal information was collected from any participant. Descriptive statistic were used to describe socio demographic characteristics. A generalized linear model was calculated to determine the predictive factors of willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 Findings: Participants demonstrated an intermediate level of COVID-19 related knowledge, answering a mean of 9.76 (SD=1.87) correct answers out of 14 questions. The analysis of the correlations between outcome of the study illustrated the existence of positive and statistically correlations between risk perception of getting COVID-19 (r=.159**, p<0.01) and the confidence in the government (r=.179**, p<0.01). Conclusion: The findings of this study showed a moderate level of willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Results of risk perception of getting COVID-19 was at a poor level. Participants also illustrated low confidence in the government. In light of this, predictive factors for willingness were risk perception and confidence in government, which risk perception showed stronger influence in willingness. In addition, risk perception of getting COVID-19 and confidence in government positively associated with willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19. Keywords: COVID-19 Vaccine, Vaccine hesitancy, high school students.
I. INTRODUCTION COVID-19 was first recognized on 31 December 2019 in Wuhan City, reporting the cluster of viral pneumonia [1] .On 11 February 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced an official name of the disease COVID-19, CO stands for corona, VI stands for virus, and D stands for disease. At the same time, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Virus (ICTV) declared severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SAR-CoV-2) as the name of the virus based on the phylogenetic relationship of the coronavirus causing SARS outbreak in 2003 [2] .To inhibit COVID-19 infection, a vaccine with 80% efficacy is necessary. In light of this, herd immunity is required at 75-90% varied with the size of population [3] .Acceptance in COVID-19 ranged from almost 90%-55% globally, in which 71.5% decided to get vaccinated if the vaccines were approved to be safe and effective [4] .In the previous study in the UK and U.S., willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 associated with low-income, poor educational background, and not receiving flu vaccine before [5,6] .In addition, findings in Australia showed vaccine refusal among people who have lower education and are reluctant to get flu vaccine [7] .Those who revealed unwillingness showed mistrust of vaccine safety or effectiveness [5,6] .
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