Attitudes of school teachers toward influenza and COVID-19 vaccine in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic
Our study aims to assess the attitudes, knowledge, and influenza vaccine uptake of school teachers, the intention to uptake influenza vaccine as well as the COVID-19 vaccine and to identify factors associated with vaccine acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece. A cross-sectional online su...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2021.1945903 |
| _version_ | 1827806583608836096 |
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| author | Despoina Gkentzi Eleni Benetatou Ageliki Karatza Aimilia Kanellopoulou Sotirios Fouzas Maria Lagadinou Markos Marangos Gabriel Dimitriou |
| author_facet | Despoina Gkentzi Eleni Benetatou Ageliki Karatza Aimilia Kanellopoulou Sotirios Fouzas Maria Lagadinou Markos Marangos Gabriel Dimitriou |
| author_sort | Despoina Gkentzi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Our study aims to assess the attitudes, knowledge, and influenza vaccine uptake of school teachers, the intention to uptake influenza vaccine as well as the COVID-19 vaccine and to identify factors associated with vaccine acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among elementary and kindergarten school teachers in the area of Western Greece from June 2020 to August 2020. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed via an internet-based link along with an invitation e-mail. Responses from 399 participants were retrieved. 139 (34.8%) had received the annual influenza vaccine in the season 2019–2020, whereas 215 (53.9%) stated that they would get it in the forthcoming season 2020–2021 (p < .001). 152 (38.1%) intent to get the COVID-19 vaccine when available. For COVID-19 vaccine factors that were independently associated with the intention to uptake included more than 15 years at work (p = .001), prior influenza vaccine uptake (p = .003), believing that COVID-19 vaccine should be mandatory (p = .04) and that school teachers are a high-risk group for COVID-19 (p = .001). In conclusion, COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have an impact on the intention of school teachers to get vaccinated for influenza. The low level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance intention among the teachers in our cohort warrants further attention. Public health interventions should aim to increase knowledge on both influenza and COVID-19 and prevention of them via immunization in this particular at-risk population. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:43:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ef37d02f9808474fb855f52ddfbe49a1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2164-5515 2164-554X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:43:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics |
| spelling | doaj.art-ef37d02f9808474fb855f52ddfbe49a12023-09-26T12:47:03ZengTaylor & Francis GroupHuman Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics2164-55152164-554X2021-10-0117103401340710.1080/21645515.2021.19459031945903Attitudes of school teachers toward influenza and COVID-19 vaccine in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemicDespoina Gkentzi0Eleni Benetatou1Ageliki Karatza2Aimilia Kanellopoulou3Sotirios Fouzas4Maria Lagadinou5Markos Marangos6Gabriel Dimitriou7Patras Medical SchoolPatras Medical SchoolPatras Medical SchoolPatras Medical SchoolPatras Medical SchoolPatras Medical SchoolPatras Medical SchoolPatras Medical SchoolOur study aims to assess the attitudes, knowledge, and influenza vaccine uptake of school teachers, the intention to uptake influenza vaccine as well as the COVID-19 vaccine and to identify factors associated with vaccine acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among elementary and kindergarten school teachers in the area of Western Greece from June 2020 to August 2020. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed via an internet-based link along with an invitation e-mail. Responses from 399 participants were retrieved. 139 (34.8%) had received the annual influenza vaccine in the season 2019–2020, whereas 215 (53.9%) stated that they would get it in the forthcoming season 2020–2021 (p < .001). 152 (38.1%) intent to get the COVID-19 vaccine when available. For COVID-19 vaccine factors that were independently associated with the intention to uptake included more than 15 years at work (p = .001), prior influenza vaccine uptake (p = .003), believing that COVID-19 vaccine should be mandatory (p = .04) and that school teachers are a high-risk group for COVID-19 (p = .001). In conclusion, COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have an impact on the intention of school teachers to get vaccinated for influenza. The low level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance intention among the teachers in our cohort warrants further attention. Public health interventions should aim to increase knowledge on both influenza and COVID-19 and prevention of them via immunization in this particular at-risk population.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2021.1945903health policypublic healthschool teachersinfluenzacovid-19 |
| spellingShingle | Despoina Gkentzi Eleni Benetatou Ageliki Karatza Aimilia Kanellopoulou Sotirios Fouzas Maria Lagadinou Markos Marangos Gabriel Dimitriou Attitudes of school teachers toward influenza and COVID-19 vaccine in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics health policy public health school teachers influenza covid-19 |
| title | Attitudes of school teachers toward influenza and COVID-19 vaccine in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | Attitudes of school teachers toward influenza and COVID-19 vaccine in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Attitudes of school teachers toward influenza and COVID-19 vaccine in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Attitudes of school teachers toward influenza and COVID-19 vaccine in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | Attitudes of school teachers toward influenza and COVID-19 vaccine in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | attitudes of school teachers toward influenza and covid 19 vaccine in greece during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | health policy public health school teachers influenza covid-19 |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2021.1945903 |
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