Attitudes of Ankara University Medical Faculty Term 3 Students Towards COVID-19 Vaccines and Related Factors

Abstract

Objectives:

Although the most important step in the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been the development of vaccines, vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination hinder application. This study examines Ankara University Faculty of Medicine (AUTF) term-3 students’ attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines and its relationship with various factors.

Materials and Methods:

Three hundred and thirty six term-3 students from 394 students studying at AUTF were recruited for this cross-sectional study. A questionnaire and 5-point Likert “Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccine Scale” with positive and negative attitude sub-dimensions were applied in April 2021 via Google Forms. Ethics committee and institution approvals were obtained. The Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed with SPSS 26.0.

Results:

Out of the students whose average age was 21 years, 51.8% were female, and the majority had middle family income. Prevalance of COVID-19 diagnosis in students was 14.3% and 14.3% reported to be undecided or not planning to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Around 80% believed in the vaccine’s safety and protection, and 85% supported their relatives getting vaccinated. While 39.3% supported Sinovac, 54.2% reported the need for different options and 72.9% found information provided about the vaccine inadequate. The average positive and negative attitude scores were 4.00 and 3.82, respectively, reflecting generally positive attitudes which did not differ across socioeconomic characteristics. Those considering to get a COVID-19 vaccine or thinking positively of the vaccine and production companies had higher attitude scores.

Conclusion:

Although Term-3 students had positive attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines, 14.3% were hesitant about getting vaccinated. It is recommended to provide adequate information and increase options for the vaccine.