Open AccessKNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND HESITANCY TOWARDS COVID-19 VACCINATION AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS AT A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN MALAYSIA
Author(s) -
Jian Yao Wong,
Louis Tan Tze Yue,
Chiu Ing Pin,
Phoo Kai Ling,
Tan Chun Yoong,
Mohamed Hashim Bin Mohamed Hassan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
malaysian journal of public health medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.16
H-Index - 9
ISSN - 1675-0306
DOI - 10.37268/mjphm/vol.21/no.3/art.1152
Subject(s) - vaccination , covid-19 , positive attitude , pandemic , family medicine , medicine , population , medical education , psychology , environmental health , immunology , social psychology , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Malaysia has a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination programme to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical students must help provide information about COVID-19 vaccination to the public. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccination among medical students. An online-based study was conducted involving 156 medical students at a private university. Sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and vaccination hesitancy were collected. Our research findings highlighted that insufficient knowledge and negative attitude may lead to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy/refusal. 25% of our study population who were COVID-19 vaccine hesitant/refusal demonstrated insufficient knowledge (69.2%) and negative attitude (64.1%) towards COVID-19 vaccination. Nevertheless, 75% of the students have registered for COVID-19 vaccination, and most of them have good knowledge (59.8%) and showed positive attitude (58.1%) towards COVID-19 vaccination. Vaccination educational programmes focused on improving knowledge and cultivating positive attitude, should be conducted to maximise vaccine acceptance among medical students.