PERCEPTIONS OF COVID-19 VACCINATION AMONG HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN ROMANIA

Abstract

The first case of new coronavirus infection was reported first in the Wuhan city area from China in December 2019. The virus spread rapidly worldwide, produced an atypical cluster of pneumonia, was known all over the world as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and, in Romania, first case was registered on the 26th of February. In Romania, the number of cases increased constantly, and a lot of healthcare professionals were infected with SARS-CoV-2. Aim: The aim of our study was to assess the opinion of healthcare professionals on the situation generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and to find what treatment against COVID-19 (a future vaccine, hydroxychloroquine) would be accepted by healthcare professionals. Material and methods: We used an online survey that was conducted from April 15th, 2020 to May 15th, 2020. The survey was developed using Google Forms and included 15 items. The respondents were recruited from health professionals (physicians, pharmacists and nurses), and future health professionals. Results: a number of 529 healthcare professionals were included in the study from different cities of the country. A total of 365 respondents (69%) agreed with the COVID-19 vaccine. Differences in accepting the vaccination against COVID-19 coverage by profession (p=0.011<0.05) were found. Conclusions: Based on the assessment of the current COVID-19 situation globally, the COVID-19 vaccines must be inoculated to the healthcare workers, but training on vaccination and compulsory measures may be needed in order to achieve better coverage.