A comparative online survey on the intention to get COVID-19 vaccine between Greek and Cypriot healthcare personnel: is the country a predictor?

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the 2,238 HCP

Characteristic (total number of responses)	HCP N (%)
	Greece	Rep Cyprus	p-value
Profession			<0.001
Physician^a	324 (31.8)	104 (8.5)
Nursing personnel	360 (35.4)	986 (80.8)
Paramedical personnel	236 (23.2)	96 (7.9)
Supportive personnel	8 (0.8)	2 (0.2)
Administrative personnel	90 (8.8)	32 (2.6)
Comorbidities	142 (13.9)	164 (13.4)	0.728
Family member with a comorbidity	545 (53.5)	630 (51.6)	0.371
Vaccination against hepatitis B	889 (87.3)	1128 (92.5)	<0.001
HBV disease	7 (0.7)	10 (0.8)	0.720
Vaccination against MMR	887 (87.1)	1122 (92.0)	<0.001
Measles disease	254 (25.0)	170 (13.9)	<0.001
Vaccination against pandemic A (H1N1)^b	292 (28.7)	220 (18.0)	<0.001
Influenza vaccination in 2019–2020	617 (60.6)	328 (26.9)	<0.001
Intention to get influenza vaccination in 2020–2021	739 (72.6)	440 (36.1)	<0.001
Involvement in care of a COVID-19 case	433 (42.5)	662 (54.3)	<0.001
History of COVID-19	52 (5.1)	68 (5.6)	0.626
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased my trust to the vaccines	332 (32.6)	248 (20.3)	<0.001
Intention to get COVID-19 vaccine	656 (64.4)	426 (34.9)	<0.001
Mean age	40.56 ± 9.64 (n = 1018)	35.54 ± 8.81 (n = 1220)	<0.001
Mean working experience	14.72 ± 9.45 (n = 915)	12.15 ± 8.24 (n = 1123)	<0.001

COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019; N: the number of HCP who answered the specific question.

^aOf the 324 Greek physicians, 299 (92.3%) had a medical specialty while of the 104 Cypriots 76 (73%) had a specialty.

^bIn 2009–2010

Table 2. Reasons for accepting or refusing COVID-19 vaccination among HCP in two countries

Reasons for accepting COVID-19 vaccination among HCP	N = 656	N = 426
	Greece	Rep Cyprus	p-value
To protect themselves	631 (96.2)	388 (91.1)	<0.001
To protect their family	650 (99.1)	418 (98.1)	0.171
To protect their patients	626 (95.4)	404 (94.8)	0.657
To contribute to the control of the pandemic	624 (95.1)	408 (95.8)	0.617
Reasons for refusing COVID-19 vaccination among HCP	N = 362	N = 794
Concerns about vaccine efficacy	172 (47.5)	510 (64.2)	<0.001
Concerns about vaccine safety	296 (81.8)	672 (84.6)	0.221
Perception that COVID-19 is not a life threatening disease	85 (23.5)	382 (48.1)	<0.001
Not enough information about the vaccine	332 (91.7)	726 (91.4)	0.875
Perception of not being at risk for infection	97 (26.8)	268 (33.8)	0.018
Fear for severe complications onset in the future	296 (81.8)	670 (84.4)	0.266

Table 3. Intention of HCP from two countries to opt for COVID-19 vaccine by attitudes and practices

Intention to get COVID-19 vaccine	% Yes		% Yes
	Greece	p-value	Rep of Cyprus	p-value
Profession		<0.001		<0.001
Physician^a	81.5		61.5
Nursing personnel	56.7		32.0
Paramedical personnel	62.7		35.4
Supportive personnel	25. 0		-
Administrative personnel	42.2		37.5
Comorbidities (yes/no)	74.6/62.8	0.006	42.7/33.7	0.025
Family member with a comorbidity (yes/no)	63.5/65.5	0.495	37.1/32.5	0.092
Vaccination against hepatitis B (yes/no)	65.7/55.8	0.029	36.2/19.6	0.001
HBV disease (yes/no)	100/64.2	0.049	60.0/34.7	0.091
Vaccination against MMR (yes/no)	63.5/71.0	0.091	35.8/24.5	0.024
Measles disease (yes/no)	63.8/64.7	0.800	34.1/35.0	0.813
Vaccination against pandemic A (H1N1) (yes/no)	80.2/40.1	<0.001	65.5/28.2	<0.001
Influenza vaccination in 2019–2020 (yes/no)	80.4/22.2	<0.001	57.9/26.5	<0.001
Influenza vaccination should be mandatory for HCP (yes/no)	86.0/41.1	<0.001	74.1/20.8	<0.001
You recommend influenza vaccination to high risk persons (yes/no)	66.5/10.8	<0.001	39.9/4.7	<0.001
Intention to get influenza vaccination in 2020–2021 (yes/no)	80.4/22.2	<0.001	65.0/17.9	<0.001
Involvement in care of a COVID-19 case (yes/no)	71.4/59.3	<0.001	36.3/33/3	0.286
History of COVID-19 (yes/no)	63.5/64.5	0.880	32.4/35.1	0.648
You will recommend COVID-19 vaccination to high risk persons (yes/no)	73.8/3.0	<0.001	51.5/0.5	<0.001
COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory for HCP (yes/no)	95.8/37.1	<0.001	91.8/14.9	<0.001
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased my trust to the vaccines (yes/no)	90.4/51.9	<0.001	79.8/23.5	<0.001
Mean age (yes/no)	41.82 ± 9.45/ 38.27 ± 9.56	<0.001	37.90 ± 9.51/ 34.27 ± 8.15	<0.001
Mean working experience	15.57 ± 9.14/ 13.09 ± 9.82	<0.001	13.68 ± 8.83/ 11.32 ± 7.78	<0.001

Table 4. Mean rating of the management of COVID-19 pandemic in two countries by their intention to get COVID-19 vaccine

				Intention to get COVID-19 vaccine
Mean rating	Greece N = 1018	Rep Cyprus N = 1220	p-value	Greece Yes/No	p-value	Rep Cyprus Yes/No	p-value
Rating of the management of COVID-19 in your country as a whole	5.47 ± 2.19	4.96 ± 2.09	<0.001	5.93 ± 2.04 4.63 ± 2.20	<0.001	5.64 ± 1.80 4.59 ± 2.15	<0.001
Rating of the management of COVID-19 in the EU as a whole	5.23 ± 1.69	5.19 ± 1.82	0.593	5.40 ± 1.67 4.92 ± 1.68	<0.001	5.55 ± 1.58 5.00 ± 1.91	<0.001
Rating of the undertaken measures for the control of COVID-19 pandemic	5.50 ± 2.20	4.62 ± 2.18	<0.001	5.83 ± 2.08 4.91 ± 2.28	<0.001	5.26 ± 1.99 4.28 ± 2.21	<0.001
Rating of lockdown effectiveness	5.51 ± 2.32	5.70 ± 2.76	0.088	5.94 ± 2.14 4.74 ± 2.43	<0.001	6.74 ± 2.28 5.14 ± 2.84	<0.001
Rating of the effectiveness of the measures undertaken from the Ministry of Health	5.24 ± 2.35	4.61 ± 2.30	<0.001	5.70 ± 2.23 4.40 ± 2.33	<0.001	5.39 ± 2.03 4.19 ± 2.33	<0.001
Rating of HCP’s compliance with the standard precautions	7.56 ± 1.68	7.80 ± 1,64	0.001	7.55 ± 1.62 7.56 ± 1.80	0.977	7.86 ± 1.44 7.77 ± 1.74	0.320
Rating of the compliance of the public with the standard precautions	5.34 ± 1.81	5.24 ± 1.85	0.171	5.18 ± 1.70 5.64 ± 1.96	<0.001	5.12 ± 1.66 5.30 ± 1.95	0.116
Rating of the mass media communication management of the COVID-19 pandemic	3.96 ± 2.50	3.81 ± 2.35	0.148	4.42 ± 2.44 3.11 ± 2.39	<0.001	4.50 ± 2.29 3.44 ± 2.29	<0.001
Rating of the COVID-19 pandemic management from the public hospitals	6.68 ± 2.19	5.86 ± 2.35	<0.001	6.91 ± 2.09 6.26 ± 2.33	<0.001	6.56 ± 2.01 5.48 ± 2.43	<0.001
Rating of the COVID-19 pandemic management from the private hospitals	5.05 ± 2.43	4.87 ± 2.40	0.078	5.11 ± 2.44 4.94 ± 2.40	0.297	4.94 ± 2.37 4.83 ± 2.42	0.435

Table 5. Multiple logistic regression analyses of the factors that predict the intention of HCP to get COVID-19 vaccine in total sample and separately for each country

Variable	Total	Greece	Republic of Cyprus
	OR (95%CI)	OR (95%CI)	OR (95%CI)
Physician	7.27 (2.80–18.90)	15.29 (4.64–50.36)	NS
Nurse	6.24 (2.46–15.79)	11.21 (3.48–36.09)	NS
Paramedical	6.91 (2.63–18.11)	11.86 (3.77–37.36)	NS
Greece	1.65 (1.14–2.39)	-	-
Age	1.03 (1.01–1.05)	NS	1.05 (1.03–1.08)
Comorbidities (yes)	0.59 (0.37–0.95)	0.24 (0.10–0.55)	NS
HBV vaccination (yes)	0.47 (0.23–0.96)	NS	0.24 (0.07–0.79)
Hepatitis B diseases (yes)	0.01 (0.01–0.07)	NS	NS
Vaccination against pandemic A(H1N1) (yes)	0.50 (0.34–0.74)	NS	0.36 (0.20–0.65)
Vaccination against influenza 2019–20 (yes)	NS	0.43 (0.23–0.82)	NS
Vaccination against influenza 2020–21 (yes)	0.11 (0.08–0.15)	0.11 (0.05–0.21)	0.13 (0.07–0.23)
Influenza vaccination should be mandatory for HCP (yes)	2.04 (1.32–3.14)	2.09 (1.06–4.13)	4.33 (2.14–8.75)
COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory for HCP (yes)	0.02 (0.01–0.03)	NS	0.02 (0.01–0.03)
Involvement in care of a COVID-19 case (yes)	0.66 (0.47–0.93)	NS	NS
Recommendation of COVID-19 vaccination to high risk persons (yes)	0.02 (0.01–0.04)	0.02 (0.01–0.08)	NS
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased my trust to the vaccines (yes)	0.18 (0.12–0.28)	0.14 (0.07–0.28)	0.14 (0.07–0.25)
Rating of the management of COVID-19 in your country as a whole	1.21 (1.03–1.41)	NS	1.38 (1.12–1.70)
Rating of the undertaken measures for the control of COVID-19 pandemic	0.85 (0.75–0.97)	0.77 (0.61–0.95)	0.73 (0.60–0.89)
Rating of the effectiveness of lockdown	NS	1.48 (1.20–1.82)	0.89 (0.79–0.99)
Rating of the COVID-19 pandemic management from the public hospitals	1.12 (1.03–1.23)	1.19 (1.03–1.37)	NS
Rating of HCP’s compliance with the standard precautions	NS	NS	1.32 (1.10–1.58)

NS: Non statistically significant