Knowledge, Vaccine Preference and Fear of COVID-19 among Malaysians during the Heightened Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic
Keywords:
knowledge; vaccine-preference; vaccination status; fear of COVID-19.Abstract
Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge, vaccine preference and fear of COVID-19 among Malaysians.
Materials and Methods: This online questionnaire survey was carried out from 6th September 2021 to 12th November 2021 through Google form on adult Malaysians. To collect the data, a pilot-tested validated questionnaire was administered to 387 samples. The questionnaire comprised of participants’ socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge on COVID-19 vaccine with source of information, participants’ specific vaccine preferences with reasons, vaccination status and fear on COVID-19.
Results and Discussions: Participants has good knowledge on COVID-19 vaccina. Total 275(71%) participants showed preference for specific vaccine; Pfizer-BioNTech was the most preferred (61.5%) vaccine. The major reason for preference was effectiveness (56.4%). Participants with vaccinepreferred group obtained higher knowledge-score(7.38/8) than non-preferred (7.28/8) with insignificant difference. A total of 376(97%) respondents were vaccinated, among them 250 (66.5%) received preferred vaccine and 22(5.85%) received non-preferred, while rest had no preference. Among 11 non-vaccinated participants, three denied vaccinations as they were offered non-preferred vaccines. Fear of COVID-19 score was found higher (21.34/35) in the vaccinated group compared to non-vaccinated group (19.09/35), although no significant difference was observed.
Conclusion: Most of the Malaysians are knowledgeable about COVID-19 vaccination, have vaccine-preference and vaccinated. Vaccine-preferred participants are more knowledgeable than non-preferred with insignificant difference. Among the non-vaccinated participants, 27% (3/11) denied vaccination as offered non-preferred vaccine. Vaccinated group showed more fear of COVID-19 than non-vaccinated, with an insignificant difference. Increased awareness is necessary for the people, unwilling or hesitant to vaccinate.
Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 22 No. 01 January’23 Page : 135-144
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Copyright (c) 2022 Anis Aqilah Binti Romzi, Megat Muhammad Syarif Hamdani Bin Megat Ahmad Kamaluddin, Mohamad Fikruddin Bin Ahmed Baseri, Muhammad Zahabi Norfizha Bin Norshim, Saidatul Najla Binti Shadan, Syafiqah Laila Athirah Binti Kamaruzaman, Abdus Salam
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