Evaluation of the opinions of patients applying to the emergency department in the north of Syria about COVID-19 vaccine

Abstract

Background: In north of Syria, health care is provided with humanitarian aid. Mass vaccinations, seen as a way out of the pandemic in Syria, are to be carried out with the support of WHO and under the supervision of Turkey. In this study, we assessed the knowledge and opinions of people who applied to hospital emergency departments in north of Syria Region about COVID-19 and the vaccine.Methods: A face-to-face survey was conducted by trained interviewers among patients and their relatives who applied to the emergency department of Azez Vatan and Çobanbey Hospitals in North of Syria Region.Results: A total of 331 subjects, 40.2% males and 59.8% females, participated in the study. The mean age was 36.06±12.69 years. While 42.9% of the participants wanted to be vaccinated, 42% said they did not want to be vaccinated, and 15.1% were undecided. When those who answered “No and I am undecided” to the question “Would you like to be vaccinated?” were asked about their hesitations about the vaccine, 129 people indicated that they did not think the vaccines were safe, and 107 people were not sure whether the vaccines provided protection. Belief was found to have no significant effect on the desire to be vaccinated.Conclusions: It is believed that vaccine awareness in the global sense, misconceptions and concerns about vaccines are effective and should be taken into account in vaccination activities and pandemic response in Syria as well as around the world.