Determination of Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccine and Affecting Factors of Individuals Applying to the Family Health Center

Abstract

Objective: This research was carried out to determine the attitudes of individuals who applied to primary care during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the factors affecting the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: The descriptive study was conducted with individuals (n=190) who applied to five family health centers in Erzincan city center between March-June 2021. The data were collected using the "Personal Information Form" and the "Scale of Attitudes towards the COVID-19 Vaccine" by paying attention to the pandemic rules by face-to-face interview method. Results: It was determined that 75.3% of the individuals were women, 41.1% were primary school graduates, 59.5% lived in a nuclear family and 74.2% had no chronic disease. Individuals Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccine Scale mean score was 3.26±0.78 out of 5, positive attitude sub-dimension mean score was 3.32±0.99, and negative attitude sub-dimension mean score was 3.21±0.71. There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccine Scale and the status of individuals thinking that COVID-19 vaccine is necessary for public health, worrying about getting COVID-19 infection, having COVID-19 vaccine, and following information about COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusions: It was determined that the attitudes of these individuals towards the COVID-19 vaccine were at a positive level. The reasons for participants' concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine are fear of side effects of the vaccine and the production of the vaccine in a very short period of time.