The Perceptions of Healthcare Workers about the COVID 19 Vaccine, Baghdad, Iraq, 2021

Background: Healthcare workers' perception and vaccine use are significant elements that are consistently linked to people's acceptance and lessened hesitation/aversion that will lead to increased vaccine usage and vaccination schedule adherence.
Objectives: To determine the perceptions of healthcare workers working in the medical city teaching hospitals on the COVID-19vaccine, Baghdad, Iraq, 2021.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using a convenient sample of healthcare workers working in the medical city teaching hospitals, Baghdad, Iraq. The Data was collected from Feb to May 2021 using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was broken up into three partss: part 1 asked about sociodemographic traits, part 2 asked about opinions on the COVID-19 vaccine, and part 3 asked about potential ways to promote the immunisation in the future as well as obstacles to getting it.
Results: The overall number of participants in the research was 312; 65% were females, 37% were between the ages of 30-39, and one-third were medical practitioners. 54% of those polled had a history of COVID-19 infection. Less than half of the individuals (48%) elected to acquire the vaccination whenever it was offered. When it becomes available, 26% of the participants think the COVID-19 vaccination is safe, and 25% think it will be successful. Social media received the greatest reports of knowledge on the COVID-19 vaccine (57%), followed by official websites of international health organisations and news outlets including the US CDC and WHO (46.8%). Twenty-nine percent of participants felt the vaccination may prevent COVID-19 problems, and 92% advocated for a vigorous public awareness campaign regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Being a doctor is substantially linked with an increased incidence of vaccination uptake in the binary logistic regression (OR 7.2, 95% CI 2.67 -19.66, P<0.001). Age, gender, education level, and past infection history were not statistically significant (p > 0.05) other variables.
Conclusions: The total acceptability percentage of the COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare personnel was less than 50%. To build and keep the public's trust in COVID-19 vaccines, healthcare workers must be ready to use a science- and evidence-based method that looks at the safety and effectiveness of vaccines in the community.