Identifying gaps in vaccination perception after mandating the COVID-19 vaccine in Saudi Arabia

Objective: The burden of COVID-19 pandemic affected the globe, and it is unclear how it has impacted the general perception of other vaccines. We aimed to investigate the public awareness, knowledge, and atti-tude towards other complementary vaccines after the mandate of the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Saudi Arabia using a survey distributed via several social media platforms in June 2022. The questionnaire had three main sections; awareness; attitudes; and demographic information. Descriptive analysis was mainly used and supplemented with Chi-square test for correlation. All individuals over the age of 18 were eligible to participate in the study. Results: A total of 1,045 participants from Saudi Arabia completed the survey. Of the respondents, 55.9% were female, and 95% were Saudi citizens. Public awareness towards vaccines after the mandate of COVID-19 vaccine was the highest with the influenza vaccine (98.2%), followed by human papillomavirus (HPV) (40.7%), tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) (37.2%), and lastly, pneumococcal vaccine (17%). More than 50% of the participants expressed their willingness to receive any of the four vaccines if they knew about the benefits related to these vaccines. Conclusion: The study showed that participants were willing to receive the vaccination if they were aware of the general benefits of vaccinations. Therefore, health education and campaigns toward recom-mended vaccines for high-risk group are essential and needed. & COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study investigated the public awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards other complementary vaccines after the mandate of the COVID-19 vaccine. The results showed that public awareness was highest for the influenza vaccine (98.2%), followed by HPV (40.7%), Tdap (37.2%), and pneumococcal vaccine (17%). More than 50% of the participants expressed their willingness to receive any of the four vaccines if they knew about the benefits associated with them.