COVID vaccine hesitancy significantly falls after awareness sessions — study

AMMAN — A study by Jordanian doctors and researchers revealed that 49 per cent of Jordanians are hesitant towards taking a COVID-19 vaccine, while over 24 per cent are totally against taking the vaccine.

The study’s titled “Pharmacists-physicians collaborative intervention to reduce vaccine hesitancy and resistance”, was published on December 28 in the international journal Vaccine. 

“We should enhance our vaccination campaign towards elderly people and those with chronic medical diseases,” Derar Bal’awi, research author and a member of the national COVID-19 committee, told The Jordan Times.

Bal’awi noted that vaccine hesitancy and resistance are emerging challenges that require healthcare intervention.

“Over 40 per cent of participants had misconceptions about the vaccine,” Bal’awi added. 

The study revealed that the proportion of hesitancy and resistance for a COVID-19 vaccine among study participants was significantly reduced from 64.3 per cent before coaching to 20.1 per cent directly after one coaching session, respectively. These proportions were further reduced to 11.1 per cent after a month of coaching, according to the study.

A total of 1,800 individuals between the ages of 18 and 45 participated in the study. The study’s sample covered all Jordanian governorates, according to the study. 

According to the study, most of the hesitant individuals doubted the potential long-term health risks of taking a COVID vaccine.

Some participants were suspicious of how fast the vaccine was manufactured, while others believed in a conspiracy theory behind the vaccine, according to the study. 

“Vaccination is the most promising strategy to counter the spread of coronavirus disease. Vaccine hesitancy is a serious global phenomenon,” Leen Qudah, a pathologist, told The Jordan Times. 

Qudah noted that unwillingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine is a significant challenge to managing the ongoing pandemic.  

“I personally took the vaccine because I have to, I would never have my kids take the vaccine”, Rahaf Saleh, 30, told The Jordan Times. 

Saleh stated that she believes in research and since, according to Saleh, no one really knows the side effects of the vaccine, she continued, medications’ side effects take tens of years to appear, she concluded. 

According to the Health Ministry’s most recent statistics, over four million people in the Kingdom have received the second dose of a COVID vaccine.