COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake and Hesitancy among Pregnant and Lactating Women in Saudi Arabia.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	AlHefdhi, Hayfa A. Mahmood, Syed Esam Alsaeedi, Manar Ahmed I. Alwabel, Haifa’ Hisham A. Alshahrani, Mariam Salem Alshehri, Ebtihaj Yahya Alhamlan, Rawan Ahmed O. Alosaimi, Maram Nawar
Editor	Batra, Kavita Sharma, Manoj
Copyright Year	2023
Abstract	Introduction: Pregnant and breastfeeding women comprise a high-risk group for the development of severe COVID-19. Therefore, vaccination is highly recommended for perinatal women; however, vaccination levels for this group remain inadequate. This study explores the percentage of COVID-19 vaccination among Saudi pregnant and lactating women, as well as their attitudes toward it. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey on a sample of Saudi pregnant and breastfeeding women. The study included pregnant and lactating women. Results: The percentage of COVID-19 vaccine uptake was 78.2%. A total of 45 (21.8%) out of 206 women did not receive the vaccine. The overall vaccine hesitancy was 21.8%. Breastfeeding women were 2.86 more likely not to receive the vaccine as compared to pregnant women. Being a mother of over five children increased the vaccine uptake among our participating women (n = 20, 90%; p < 0.01). The majority of the subjects had taken the Pfizer vaccine (81.98%, 132/161). The availability of the COVID-19 vaccine was the most common factor for choosing a particular vaccine. Protection from infection (60.2%, 97/161) was reported as the main driver for vaccine uptake. The most common reason perceived for delaying COVID-19 vaccination was being worried about the side effects (176, 85.44%) on one’s own body and the effects on the unborn child (130, 63.1%). Conclusion: We uncovered high levels of hesitancy, primarily induced by concerns about adverse effects and social media-related misinformation. These high levels of vaccine uptake are likely due to the large-scale obligatory vaccination program provided in Saudi Arabia, which was well-structured and far reaching. Our results provide further support for the so-called “protection motivation theory” in boosting vaccine acceptance. Counseling and educating pregnant and breastfeeding women about COVID-19 vaccination is the need of the hour.
Journal	Vaccines (Basel)
Volume Number	11
PubMed Central reference number	PMC9963442
Issue Number	2
PubMed reference number	36851239
e-ISSN	2076393X
DOI	10.3390/vaccines11020361
Language	English
Publisher	MDPI
Publisher Date	2023-02-05
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). © 2023 by the authors.
Subject Keyword	COVID-19 vaccine pregnancy breastfeeding attitudes behavior Saudi Arabia
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Drug Discovery Immunology Pharmacology Pharmacology (medical) Infectious Diseases