Evaluation of Attitudes and Behaviors of Healthcare Professionals towards COVID-19 Vaccination

Objective: Healthcare professionals will be key to the success of COVID-19 vaccination programs because they are in the primary vaccination group. This study aims to measure and evaluate the acceptance, attitudes, and behaviors of healthcare professionals towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: A questionnaire was applied to healthcare professionals via face-to-face interviews between 15-25 December 2020. Results: 507 participants were included in the study; the mean age was 31.6 +/- 8.2 (19-71), and 52.3% were women. 52.3% of healthcare professionals said they wanted to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Men were more likely to have the COVID-19 vaccine than women (p <0.001). While the willingness for the COVID-19 vaccine was highest in doctors (83%), it was the least in nurses (37.7%) (p <0.001). The willingness to be vaccinated was higher in those with a higher education level (p <0.001). Conclusions: We observed that healthcare professionals' willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 differed according to their roles in the hospital, and doctors were the most widely group to accept vaccination. We believe our findings can guide public health campaigns, particularly for healthcare professionals, to increase acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine.