CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) VACCINATION: OPINIONS AND ATTITUDES OF SOCIAL WORKERS. A GREEK NATIONAL SURVEY
Abstract
There is a general belief that vaccines constitute the most effective form of limiting the spread of diseases and protecting public health. Yet, as highly effective tools as vaccines may be, studies reveal that the rates of support and acceptance of vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic from public health personnel in Western countries indicate hesitancy among them. As professional Social Workers are part of the public health personnel who are priority groups for many vaccinations, the present study focused on their opinions and attitudes towards vaccination and their role in motivating their beneficiaries. The purpose of this quantitative Greek National Survey among 771 Social Workers, members of the Association of Social Workers of Greece (ASGLE), who are professionally active in Greece, was to understand and analyze their attitudes towards the available vaccines against COVID-19 and compulsory vaccination. Through the online self-completion questionnaire, which was used for the collection of data, the survey also aimed to evaluate the Social Workers’ knowledge and sources from which they received information about Covid-19, their motivational sources, their views on compulsory vaccination of health professionals and their views on motivating their beneficiaries with regards to vaccination.
Article visualizations:
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Alcoforado, F. (2020). The World after coronavirus. academia.edu (accessed on, 10 March 2020)
Allen, J. D., Feng, W., Corlin, L., Porteny, T., Acevedo, A., Schildkraut, D., King, E., Ladin, K., Fu, Q., & Stopka, T. J. (2021). Why are some people reluctant to be vaccinated for COVID-19? A cross-sectional survey among U.S. Adults in May-June 2020. Preventive Medicine Reports, 24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101494
Alnazly, E., Khraisat, O. M., Al-Bashaireh, A. M., & Bryant, C. L. (2021). Anxiety, depression, stress, fear and social support during COVID-19 pandemic among Jordanian healthcare workers. PLOS ONE, 16(3), e0247679. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247679
Bell, S., Clarke, R. M., Ismail, S. A., Ojo-Aromokudu, O., Naqvi, H., Coghill, Y., Donovan, H., Letley, L., Paterson, P., & Mounier-Jack, S. (2022). COVID-19 vaccination beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours among health and social care workers in the UK: a mixed-methods study. PLOS ONE, 17(1), e0260949. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260949
Bowen, R. A. R. (2020). Ethical and organizational considerations for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination of health care workers: a clinical laboratorian's perspective. Clinica Chimica Acta, 510(510), 421-422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cca.2020.08.003
Brinkerhoff, D. W. and Bossert, T. J. (2014). Health Governance: Principal-Agent Linkages and Health System Strengthening. Health Policy and Planning, 29, 685-693.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czs132
Butter, S., McGlinchey, E., Berry, E., & Armour, C. (2021). Psychological, social, and situational factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination intentions: a study of UK key workers and non-key workers. British Journal of Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12530
CDC. COVID Data Tracker. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (accessed on, 28 March 2020). https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations.
ertnews.gr. Two years of coronavirus in Greece: the course, the lockdowns, the measures and the hope". https://www.ertnews.gr/eidiseis/mono-sto-ertgr/dyo-chronia-koronoios-stin-ellada-i-poreia-ta-lockdowns-ta-metra-kai-i-elpida/ (accessed on, 26 February, 2020)
Cudjoe, E., & Abdullah, A. (2020). Drawing on kinship care support for older people during a pandemic (COVID-19): Practice considerations for social workers in Ghana. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 63(4), 254-256.
Fountoulakis, K. N., Apostolidou, M. K., Atsiova, M. B., Filippidou, A. K., Florou, A. K., Gousiou, D. S., Katsara, A. R., Mantzari, S. N., Padouva-Markoulaki, M., Papatriantafyllou, E. I., Sakharidi, P. I., Tonia, A. I., Tsagalidou, E. G., Zymara, V. P., Prezerakos, P. E., Koupidis, S. A., Fountoulakis, N. K., & Chrousos, G. P. (2021). Self-reported changes in anxiety, depression and suicidality during the COVID-19 lockdown in Greece. Journal of Affective Disorders, 279, 624-629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.10.061
Gagneux-Brunon, A., Detoc, M., Bruel, S., Tardy, B., Rozaire, O., Frappe, P., & Botelho-Nevers, E. (2020). Intention to get vaccinations against COVID-19 in French healthcare workers during the first pandemic wave: a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Hospital Infection. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2020.11.020
Giubilini, A. (2020). Vaccination Ethics. British Medical Bulletin, 137(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldaa036
Gur-Arie, R., Jamrozik, E., & Kingori, P. (2021). No Jab, No Job? Ethical Issues in Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination of Healthcare Personnel. BMJ Global Health, 6(2), e004877. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004877
Health.gov.au. (2022). (accessed on 25 February, 2020) https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021/03/covid-19-vaccination-astrazeneca-covid-19-information-on-covid-19-astrazeneca-vaccine_4.docx
Heyerdahl, L. W., Dielen, S., Nguyen, T., Riet, C. V., Kattumana, T., Simas, C., Vandaele, N., Vandamme, A.-M., Vandermeulen, C., Giles-Vernick, T., Larson, H., Grietens, K. P., & Gryseels, C. (2022). 'Doubt at the core: unspoken vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers'. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100289
Lai, J., Ma, S., Wang, Y., Cai, Z., Hu, J., Wei, N., Wu, J., Du, H., Chen, T., Li, R., Tan, H., Kang, L., Yao, L., Huang, M., Wang, H., Wang, G., Liu, Z., & Hu, S. (2020). Factors Associated with Mental Health Outcomes Among Health Care Workers Exposed to Coronavirus Disease 2019. JAMA Network Open, 3(3), e203976-e203976. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3976
Larhlid, M., Manar, N., Laraqui, S., Laraqui, O., Deschamps, F., & El Houssine Laraqui Hossini, C. (2022). Acceptability of anti-covid -19 vaccination by health care workers (HCWs). Safety and Health at Work, 13, S176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2021.12.1302
Lataifeh, L., Al-Ani, A., Lataifeh, I., Ammar, K., AlOmary, A., Al-hammouri, F., & Al-Hussaini, M. (2022). Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Healthcare Workers in Jordan towards the COVID-19 Vaccination. Vaccines, 10(2), 263. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10020263
Lundberg, L., Bygdell, M., Stukat von Feilitzen, G., Woxenius, S., Ohlsson, C., Kindblom, J. M., & Leach, S. (2021). Recent MMR vaccination in health care workers and Covid-19: A test negative case-control study. Vaccine, 39(32), 4414-4418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.06.045
Luo, C., Yang, Y., Liu, Y., Zheng, D., Shao, L., Jin, J., & He, Q. (2021). Intention to COVID-19 vaccination and associated factors among health care workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies. American Journal of Infection Control. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2021.06.020
Manolescu, L. S. C., Zaharia, C. N., Dumitrescu, A. I., Prasacu, I., Radu, M. C., Boeru, A. C., Boidache, L., Nita, I., Necsulescu, A., & Chivu, R. D. (2021). Early COVID-19 Vaccination of Romanian Medical and Social Personnel. Vaccines, 9(10), 1127. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9101127
Miller, V., Fields, N., Kusmaul, N., Anderson, K., & Maxwell, C. (2020). Nursing Home Social Workers Perceptions of Preparedness and Coping for COVID-19. Innovation in Aging, 4 (Supplement_1), 953-953. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaa057.3487
Moris, D., & Schizas, D. (2020). Lockdown During COVID-19: The Greek Success. In Vivo, 34(3 suppl), 1695-1699. https://doi.org/10.21873/invivo.11963
Musselwhite, C., Avineri, E. and Susilo, Y. (2020). Editorial JTH 16-The Coronavirus Disease COVID-19 and Implications for Transport and Health. Journal of Transport & Health, 16, Article ID: 100853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2020.100853
Narayan, P., TS, S. K., BV, M. M., Ghorai, P. A., Devi, E. R., & Shetty, P. (2021). Uptake And Impact of Vaccination Against COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers- Evidence from a Multicentre Study. American Journal of Infection Control. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2021.10.036
Papini, F., Mazzilli, S., Paganini, D., Rago, L., Arzilli, G., Pan, A., Goglio, A., Tuvo, B., Privitera, G., & Casini, B. (2022). Healthcare Workers Attitudes, Practices and Sources of Information for COVID-19 Vaccination: an Italian National Survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(2), 733. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19020733
Parker, M., Bedford, H., Ussher, M., & Stead, M. (2021). Should covid vaccination be mandatory for health and care staff? BMJ, n1903. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1903
Peinado, M., & Anderson, K. N. (2020). Reducing social worker burnout during COVID-19. International Social Work, 002087282096219. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872820962196
Prieto Curiel, R., & González Ramírez, H. (2021). Vaccination strategies against COVID-19 and the diffusion of anti-vaccination views. Scientific Reports, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85555-1
Queen, D., & Harding, K. (2020). Societal pandemic burnout: a COVID legacy. International Wound Journal, 17(4), 873-874. https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.13441
Rahman, M. A., Hoque, N., Alif, S. M., Salehin, M., Islam, S. M. S., Banik, B., Sharif, A., Nazim, N. B., Sultana, F., & Cross, W. (2020). Factors associated with psychological distress, fear and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Globalization and Health, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-020-00624-w
Rimmer, A. (2021). Covid vaccination to be mandatory for NHS staff in England from spring 2022. BMJ, 375, n2733. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2733
Rodger, D., & Blackshaw, B. P. (2022). COVID-19 Vaccination Should not be Mandatory for Health and Social Care Workers. The New Bioethics, 28(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/20502877.2022.2025651
Sadie Bell, et al. (2022). COVID-19 vaccination beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours among health and social care workers in the UK: a mixed-methods study. PLoS One. 2022; 17(1): e0260949. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260949. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260949
Savic, L. C., Savic, S., & Pearse, R. M. (2022). Mandatory vaccination of National Health Service staff against COVID-19: more harm than good? British Journal of Anaesthesia. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2022.01.030
Schrading, W. A., Trent, S. A., Paxton, J. H., Rodriguez, R. M., Swanson, M. B., Mohr, N. M., Talan, D. A., Bahamon, M., Carlson, J. N., Chisolm-Straker, M., Driver, B., Faine, B., Galbraith, J., Giordano, P. A., Haran, J. P., Higgins, A., Hinson, J., House, S., Idris, A. H., & Kean, E. (2021). Vaccination rates and acceptance of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among U.S. emergency department health care personnel. Academic Emergency Medicine, 28(4), 455-458. https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.14236
Scrima, F., Miceli, S., Caci, B., & Cardaci, M. (2022). The relationship between fear of COVID-19 and intention to get vaccinated: the serial mediation roles of existential anxiety and conspiracy beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences, 184, 111188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111188
Toth-Manikowski, S. M., Swirsky, E. S., Gandhi, R., & Piscitello, G. (2021). COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy among health care workers, communication, and policy-making. American Journal of Infection Control, 50(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2021.10.004
Triantafyllidou, M. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on mental health. Rostrum of Asclepius, 19(4), 274-294. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4061809
Waters, A. (2022). Covid-19: Reassess effects of compulsory vaccination on staffing, urge unions. BMJ, o139. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o139
White, C. J., Samady, H., & Moliterno, D. J. (2021). The Case for Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination of Health Care Workers. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 14(17), 1961-1962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcin.2021.07.055
Zakar, R., Momina, A. ul, Shahzad, S., Hayee, M., Shahzad, R., & Zakar, M. Z. (2022). COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy or Acceptance and Its Associated Factors: Findings from Post-Vaccination Cross-Sectional Survey from Punjab Pakistan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1305. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031305
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejsss.v9i1.1512
Copyright (c) 2023 Manolis Nikolaos Mentis, Eleni Mavroeidi, Anastasia Malevskaia, Nikolaos Karalis, Georgia Konstantopoulou
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The research works published in this journal are free to be accessed. They can be shared (copied and redistributed in any medium or format) and\or adapted (remixed, transformed, and built upon the material for any purpose, commercially and\or not commercially) under the following terms: attribution (appropriate credit must be given indicating original authors, research work name and publication name mentioning if changes were made) and without adding additional restrictions (without restricting others from doing anything the actual license permits). Authors retain the full copyright of their published research works and cannot revoke these freedoms as long as the license terms are followed.
Copyright © 2016 - 2023. European Journal Of Social Sciences Studies (ISSN 2501-8590) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library. All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and standards formulated by Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002), the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (2003) and Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003) and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Copyrights of the published research works are retained by authors.
