Assessing Physician Confidence in Counseling Patients on COVID-19 Disease and Vaccination: A Survey of Physicians' Perspectives in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Background: The COVID-19 vaccine has been available and well acceptable among the Saudi population since its introduction in 2020; however, concerns still remain regarding the confidence of doctors in giving such vaccines.

Research Question: How confident are physicians in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia about giving counseling and advice for patients regarding COVID-19 disease and COVID-19 vaccines?

Objective:  To determine how confident Saudi Arabian doctors are in their ability to advise patients on the COVID-19 illness and COVID-19 vaccines.

Aim: To assist the health authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in developing and implementing programs to improve doctors' skills and knowledge in giving advice to patients about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Method: The research employed an online cross-sectional study methodology to gather insights from doctors employed at hospitals, healthcare centers, and clinics across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The inclusion criteria encompassed doctors actively engaged in healthcare settings, while the exclusion criteria were applied to those who had never encountered COVID-19 patients and those who declined participation in the study.

Results: It was found that doctors were confident that there's a potential for adverse effects that are not yet seen in vaccine trials. Further results showed that primary health care doctors are more confident about the common side effects associated with the approved vaccines.

Conclusion: Most doctors were confident about the vaccine, yet they also know that there are some hidden side effects that are not yet discovered. Since patients trusted doctors as the main source of information about the vaccine, the study provided evidence to emphasize the rule of doctors as a reliable source of information.