Background: The impressively rapid availability of different types of COVID-19 vaccines and, on the other hand, the degree of their effectiveness as opposed to the likelihood of serious or non-serious side effects place a fairly large percentage of the population at a crossroads regarding the choice to get vaccinated or not, hence threatening achievement of total immunization coverage and full immunity. This study aimed to assess COVID-19 vaccination intention in Greece regarding protection behaviors and perceptions of the pandemic.
Methods: A total of 3753 participants completed a specially designed electronic questionnaire anonymously and voluntarily. The study population consisted of healthcare workers, students, members of professional societies, teachers, and professors. The questionnaire was composed of four parts pertaining to demographic data and possible changes in hygiene attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results: In total, 43.3% of the participants stated that SARS-CoV-2 poses a significant risk. The most widespread protection practice was avoiding crowded places (90.1%), followed by reducing the use of public transport (86.1%) and washing their hands with soap and water more often than usual (84.2%). Women undertook significantly more behavioral changes than men and participants of other nationalities. About half of the participants (44%) implemented seven behavioral changes. Lower personal and general perceived risk due to COVID-19 was significantly associated with lower intention to get vaccinated.
Conclusion: Strong hesitancy was observed towards COVID-19 vaccination. There is a need for further studies to be conducted to investigate the benefits and safety of vaccines for the purpose of better informing the public. Healthcare personnel can and should play a key role in this process.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8877246 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jpm12020295 | DOI Listing |
Health Promot Pract
January 2025
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
The meat processing industry was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Deemed essential, the meat processing workforce faced the risk of exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Along with other essential workforces, meat processing workers were prioritized in the national approach to receive COVID-19 vaccines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Parasitol
April 2024
INRS- Centre Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie, Université du Québec, Laval, QC, Canada.
Extracellular vesicles released by the protozoan parasite display immunomodulatory properties towards mammalian immune cells. In this study, we have evaluated the potential of extracellular vesicles derived from the non-pathogenic protozoan towards the development of a vaccine adjuvant. As a proof of concept, we expressed in a codon-optimized SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein fused to the secreted acid phosphatase signal peptide in the N-terminal and to a 6×-His stretch in the C-terminal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfect Dis Model
June 2025
School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China.
Background: At the end of 2022, China adjusted its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevention and control strategy. How this adjustment affected the cumulative infection rate is debated, and how second booster dose vaccination affected the pandemic remains unclear.
Methods: We collected COVID-19 case data for China's mainland from December 7, 2022, to January 7, 2023, reported by the World Health Organization.
Vet Res Forum
December 2024
MD Student, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus is the causative agent of the emerging zoonotic respiratory disease. One of the most important prerequisites for combating emerging diseases is the development of vaccines within a short period of time. In this study, antigen-irradiated, inactivated SARS-CoV-2 viruses and the disaccharide trehalose were used to enhance immune responses in the Syrian hamster.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVet Res Forum
December 2024
Institute of Pathogenic Microbiology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, and Nanchang Key Laboratory of Animal Virus and Genetic Engineering, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The receptor binding domain (RBD), located at the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, contains most of the neutralizing epitopes during viral infection and is an ideal antigen for vaccine development. In this study, bioinformatic analysis of the amino acid sequence data of SARS-CoV-2 RBD protein for the better understanding of molecular characteristics was performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!