A National Survey of Iranian Academicians’ Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccination

Given the importance of using the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine in the control and prevention of this disease, the aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of Iranian medical and healthcare professionals regarding COVID-19 vaccination.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in August 2020. The target population was professors and researchers of Iranian universities of medical sciences. Data were collected using a questionnaire designed in a study on mapping global trends in vaccine confidence. The participants were invited through an online invitation to respond to the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and compared using the Chi-square test.

Out of 16500 invitations, 918 subjects participated in the study. Most of the participants were female (55.7%). Almost 51% of participants had a PhD degree. The results showed that 46.3% were not sure about the effectiveness and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine. The majority of participants (67.2 %) responded that the country has to provide the vaccine for free rather than paying the cost of the vaccine. Moreover, 73.0 % preferred the COVID-19 vaccine made in a foreign country to the COVID-19 vaccine made in their own country. The United States followed by Germany have been selected by most Iranian researchers to produce the COVID-19 vaccine.

This study showed the high importance of creating a culture and raising the level of awareness and knowledge of the people before the preparation and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in the community.