COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake and Hesitancy among Pregnant and Lactating Women in Saudi Arabia

Pregnant and breastfeeding women comprise a high-risk group for the development of severe COVID-19. Therefore, vaccination is highly recommended for perinatal women; however, vaccination levels for this group remain inadequate. This study explores the percentage of COVID-19 vaccination among Saudi p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Vaccines (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 2; p. 361
Main Authors:	AlHefdhi, Hayfa A, Mahmood, Syed Esam, Alsaeedi, Manar Ahmed I, Alwabel, Haifa' Hisham A, Alshahrani, Mariam Salem, Alshehri, Ebtihaj Yahya, Alhamlan, Rawan Ahmed O, Alosaimi, Maram Nawar
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland MDPI AG 01-02-2023 MDPI
Subjects:	attitudes behavior Beliefs, opinions and attitudes Breast feeding breastfeeding Coronaviruses COVID-19 COVID-19 vaccine COVID-19 vaccines Immunization Methods Pregnancy Pregnant women Risk groups Saudi Arabia Side effects Vaccination Vaccines Womens health Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia COVID-19 vaccine breastfeeding behavior attitudes pregnancy
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Summary:	Pregnant and breastfeeding women comprise a high-risk group for the development of severe COVID-19. Therefore, vaccination is highly recommended for perinatal women; however, vaccination levels for this group remain inadequate. This study explores the percentage of COVID-19 vaccination among Saudi pregnant and lactating women, as well as their attitudes toward it. We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey on a sample of Saudi pregnant and breastfeeding women. The study included pregnant and lactating women. The percentage of COVID-19 vaccine uptake was 78.2%. A total of 45 (21.8%) out of 206 women did not receive the vaccine. The overall vaccine hesitancy was 21.8%. Breastfeeding women were 2.86 more likely not to receive the vaccine as compared to pregnant women. Being a mother of over five children increased the vaccine uptake among our participating women ( = 20, 90%; < 0.01). The majority of the subjects had taken the Pfizer vaccine (81.98%, 132/161). The availability of the COVID-19 vaccine was the most common factor for choosing a particular vaccine. Protection from infection (60.2%, 97/161) was reported as the main driver for vaccine uptake. The most common reason perceived for delaying COVID-19 vaccination was being worried about the side effects (176, 85.44%) on one's own body and the effects on the unborn child (130, 63.1%). We uncovered high levels of hesitancy, primarily induced by concerns about adverse effects and social media-related misinformation. These high levels of vaccine uptake are likely due to the large-scale obligatory vaccination program provided in Saudi Arabia, which was well-structured and far reaching. Our results provide further support for the so-called "protection motivation theory" in boosting vaccine acceptance. Counseling and educating pregnant and breastfeeding women about COVID-19 vaccination is the need of the hour.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2076-393X 2076-393X
DOI:	10.3390/vaccines11020361