Medical Science
Volume 26, Issue 129, November 2022
Knowledge and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination among medical and paramedical students
Fahad S Alshehri1♦, Amal Binsalman2, Raeah Jamal2, Saja Al Namlah2, Futoun Sharaf2, Amal Fallatah2, Thikra Alqarafi2, Sarah Al Sharif2, Mahmoud Essam Elrggal3, Rania E Mufti2
1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy,
Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
2Department of medicine, Al-Rayan Colleges, Medina, Saudi Arabia
3Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura
University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
♦Corresponding author
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy,
Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah,
Saudi Arabia
ABSTRACT
Background: Vaccine hesitancy poses severe challenges in achieving population immunity. Achieving high COVID‐19 vaccination
acceptance rates to ensure medical students' coverage as future health care providers is necessary. This study aims to assess the
knowledge and attitude towards the COVID‐19 vaccine among medical and paramedical students to determine factors and barriers
influencing vaccination decision making. Method: A cross sectional, survey based study was conducted among Al Rayan medical
and paramedical students. Data were collected via an online questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS with descriptive statistics. Results:
In total, 465 students completed the survey. Over all, students expressed good knowledge of vaccination safety. However, students
expressed different opinions towards receiving the vaccine. 52.4% of students showed great uncertainty towards the vaccine, 20.9%
refused to take it and only 26.7% expressed that they would take it with great confidence. However, 50.5% of students expressed
doubts about the vaccine's efficacy and 52.7% thought the vaccination process was expedited. In addition, 50.6% of respondents
think they do not need to be vaccinated because they are still young and healthy. Conclusion: Medical and paramedical students
have different outlooks toward vaccination. Several factors contribute to their decision, such as the lack of confidence in data
provided by the media and authorities regarding the safety and validation process. Therefore, there is a severe need to educate
young adults regarding the importance of vaccination to minimize the negative consequences of COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19, Hesitancy, Vaccine, Knowledge, Medical students.
Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms460e2446
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i129/ms460e2446
Published: 11 November 2022
