Understanding factors influencing healthcare workers' intention towards the COVID-19 vaccine

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 18; no. 7; p. e0286794
• Main Authors: Xie, Zhuyun, Qalati, Sikandar Ali, Limón, Mónica Lorena Sánchez, Sulaiman, Mohammad Ali Bait Ali, Qureshi, Naveed Akhtar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 27-07-2023
• Subjects: Attitudes; Behavior; Biology and Life Sciences; Coronaviruses; COVID-19 vaccines; Data analysis; Data collection; Disease control; Disease transmission; Health aspects; Health care; Health risks; Immunization; Medical personnel; Medicine and Health Sciences; Multivariate statistical analysis; Pandemics; People and Places; Perceptions; Public health; Social Sciences; Systematic review; Theory of planned behavior; Urban areas; Vaccines; Viral diseases; Pakistan; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286794

Globally, healthcare workers (HCWs) are at high risk of acquiring Coronavirus infection. In addition, they are role models for the general public concerning attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, they play a critical role in successfully promoting practices aiming to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 infection. Therefore, this study broadly based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) explores the factors influencing HCWs' intention to be vaccinated. An online survey was administered using Google Form to collect data from HCWs working in the public health sector of Pakistan. The sample included 813 participants, two-thirds were female, and one-third were male. In addition, 41.5% of them were aged between 26-35 years, 32.6% had master's level education, 25% were nurses, and 57.7% of them were living in urban areas. Data analysis was run using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The research findings reveal the positive and significant effect of the TPB factors (attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) and the extended factor of vaccine confidence on HCWs' intention to be vaccinated. This study's model explains 66.4% of variations in HCWs' intention to be vaccinated.