Prevalence, Knowledge and Potential Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptability Among University Students in the United Arab Emirates: Findings and Implications

Figures & data

Table 1 Number and Percentages of the Questions of Demographic Characteristics of Study Participants (n=467)

Demographic	Groups	Frequency	Percentage
Gender	Female	358	76.7%
	Male	109	23.3%
Age (years)	<25	378	80.9%
	25–40	65	13.9%
	40–65	24	5.1%
Nationality	African	13	2.8%
	Arabic	383	82%
	Asian	17	3.6%
	Emirati	42	9%
	Western	12	2.6%
Study year	First	69	14.8%
	Second	101	21.6%
	Third	100	21.4%
	Fourth	125	26.8%
	Fifth	18	3.9%
	Master student	54	11.6%
Major	Business administration	84	18%
	Dentistry	40	8.6%
	Education and basic sciences	17	3.6%
	Engineering	122	26.1%
	Faculty of medicine	31	6.6%
	Information technology	24	5.1%
	Law	9	1.9%
	Mass communication and humanities	22	4.7%
	Pharmacy	80	17.1%
	Other	38	8%.1

Table 2 Number and Percentages of Questions on Vaccination Status Among Study Participants (n=467)

COVID-19 Vaccine	Groups	Frequency	Percentage
Have you vaccinated against COVID-19 virus?	Yes	181	38.8%
	No	286	61.2%
What kind of vaccines you were vaccinated (n=181)?	AstraZeneca vaccine	1	0.6%
	Sinopharm vaccine	152	84%
	Pfizer vaccine	22	12.2%
	Do not know	6	3.3%
It is important to take the vaccine to protect the people from COVID-19	Yes	263	56.3%
	No	204	43.7%

Table 3 COVID-19 Vaccination Status According to Demographic Characteristics

		COVID-19 Vaccination
Variable	Groups	Estimate	OR	95% CI		P-value
				Lower	Upper
	All	181 (38.8%)
Gender	Male	44 (40.4%)	Ref.	–	–	0.694
	Female	137 (38.3%)	0.916	0.591	1.419
Nationality	African	7 (53.8%)	0.583	0.115	2.952	0.515
	Arabic	134 (35%)	0.269	0.080	0.910	0.035*
	Asian	7 (41.2%)	0.350	0.075	1.634	0.182
	Emirati	25 (59.5%)	0.735	0.191	2.834	0.655
	Western	8 (66.7%)	Ref.	–	–	–
Age (years)	18–24	151 (39.9%)	Ref.	–	–	–
	25–40	21 (32.3%)	0.717	0.410	1.255	0.244
	>40	9 (37.5%)	0.902	0.385	2.114	0.812
Study year	First	25 (36.2%)	0.852	0.452	1.605	0.621
	Second	36 (35.6%)	0.831	0.469	1.470	0.524
	Third	40 (40.0%)	Ref.	–	–	–
	Fourth	57 (45.6%)	1.257	0.738	2.142	0.40
	Fifth	5 (27.8%)	0.577	0.191	1.744	0.330
	Mater student	18 (33.3%)	0.750	0.375	1.500	0.416
Major	Health science colleges	73 (48.3%)	1.802	1.214	2.675	0.003*
	Non-health science colleges	108 (34.2%)	Ref.	–	–	–

Note: * P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Table 4 Number and Percentages of the Questions on Knowledge About COVID-19 Symptoms and Transmission

	Yes		No		Do not know
Most COVID-19 Symptoms	F	%	F	%	F	%
Fever	402	86.1%	36	7.7%	29	6.2%
Cough	388	83.1%	45	9.6%	34	7.3%
Sore throat	328	70.2%	61	13.1%	78	16.7%
Shortness of breath	411	88%	31	6.6%	25	5.4%
Nausea	198	42.4%	140	30%	129	27.6%
Vomiting	150	32.1%	185	39.6%	132	28.3%
Diarrhea	253	54.2%	111	23.8%	103	22.1%
No any symptoms	92	19.7%	283	60.6%	92	19.7%
Transmission
Surfaces recently touched by someone who is affected	403	86.3%	30	6.4%	34	7.3%
Airborne	314	67.2%	98	21%	55	11.8%
Waterborne	124	26.6%	225	48.2%	118	25.3%
Insects	63	13.5%	278	59.5%	126	27%
Droplets spread through coughing or sneezing	430	92.1%	13	2.8%	24	5.1%
Touching or shaking hands with a person who is affected	421	90.1%	24	5.1%	22	4.7%

Note: The correct answers are in bold.

Abbreviations: F, frequency; %, Percentage.

Table 5 Number and Percentages of the Questions on General Knowledge About COVID-19

General Knowledge	True		False		Do not Know
	F	%	F	%	F	%
1. There is an effective medicine available for treating COVID-19	69	14.8	271	58.0	127	27.2
2. There are ways to help slow the spread of COVID-19	406	86.9	20	4.3	41	8.8
3.Currently there is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19	86	18.4	295	63.2	86	18.4
4. The ordinary flu vaccine will protect me from COVID-19	31	6.6	323	69.2	113	24.2
5.Antibiotics are an effective treatment for COVID-19	89	19.1	231	49.5	147	31.5
6. Taking vitamin C or other vitamins will protect you from the COVID-19	235	50.3	142	30.4	90	19.3
7. There is no evidence that vaccines against pneumonia will protect you against the COVID-19	192	41.1	50	10.7	225	48.2
8. Regularly rinsing your nose with saline will protect you against the COVID-19	100	21.4	176	37.7	191	40.9
9. There is no evidence that eating garlic will protect you against the COVID	204	43.7	105	22.5	158	33.8
10. The health effects of COVID-19 appear to be more severe for people who already have a serious medical condition	374	80.1	30	6.4	63	13.5

Notes: Adapted from Faasse and Newby.⁸⁹ The correct answers are in bold.

Abbreviations: F, frequency; %, Percentage.

Table 6 Number and Percentages of the Questions on Attitude About COVID-19 Vaccination

Attitude Items	Agree		Disagree
	F	%	F	%
1. Worries about unforeseen impacts	306	65.5%	161	34.5%
2. Pharmaceutical companies are going to develop safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines	288	61.7%	179	38.3%
3. General mistrust of vaccines benefits	164	35.1%	303	64.9%
4. Your decision on taking the vaccine will change depending of the country of manufacture	163	34.9%	304	65.1%
5. Concerns about commercial profiteering	219	46.9%	248	53.1%
6.Side effects will prevent me from taking the vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19	167	35.8%	300	64.2%
7. Preference of natural immunity	221	47.3%	246	52.7%
8. Most people will refuse to take COVID-19 vaccine once its licensed in your country	108	23.1%	359	76.9%
9. The government of your country will make the vaccine available for free for all citizens	308	66%	159	34%

Abbreviations: F, frequency; %, Percentage.

Table 7 Multivariate Regression Analysis for the Factors Associated with Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccine

Factors	Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccine
	OR	95% CI		P-value
Worries about unforeseen impacts	1.594	0.983	2.585	0.059
Pharmaceutical companies are going to develop safe and effective COVID-19	5.090	3.201	8.093	<0.001*
General mistrust of vaccines benefits	0.406	0.245	0.673	<0.001*
Your decision on taking the vaccine will change depending of the country of manufacture	2.014	1.224	3.315	0.006*
Concerns about commercial profiteering	1.396	0.871	2.237	0.166
Side effects will prevent me from taking the vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19	0.502	0.309	0.816	0.005*
Preference of natural immunity	0.342	0.213	0.551	<0.001*
Most people will refuse to take COVID-19 vaccine once its licensed in your country	0.583	0.341	1.034	0.054
The government of your country will make the vaccine available for free for all citizens	1.528	0.968	2.412	0.069
Knowledge about COVID-19 (Ref. Poor knowledge)
Acceptable knowledge	1.765	1.087	2.866	0.022*
Good knowledge	1.902	1.228	2.944	0.004*
Vaccinated against COVID-19 virus	3.325	2.220	4.979	<0.001*

Note: * P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Faasse K, Newby J. Public perceptions of COVID-19 in Australia: perceived risk, knowledge, health-protective behaviors, and vaccine intentions. Psychol. 2020;11:551004.

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