Abstract
Background: Currently, the attitudes and perceptions of the Chiropractic students at the University of Johannesburg toward COVID-19 vaccination have not yet been assessed.
Aim: The primary aim of this study was to assess the attitudes and perceptions of the Chiropractic students at the University of Johannesburg toward COVID-19 vaccination. This study's secondary aim was to compare the junior cohort of students' attitudes and perceptions to the attitudes and perceptions of the senior cohort students.
Method: This was a quantitative cross-sectional and explorative study. The sample students were based on a non-probability, voluntary response sampling strategy. The students were invited to complete a questionnaire adapted to assess their attitudes and perceptions toward COVID-19 vaccination.
Procedure: The information letter, consent form and link to the questionnaire were distributed to the Chiropractic students by the researcher via the individual years’ class representatives using WhatsApp messenger. All willing and consenting participants who met the inclusion criteria were instructed to click on the link provided in the WhatsApp message, redirecting them to the Question Pro hosted website, where the questionnaire was answered anonymously.
Results: Data was collected to determine the attitudes and perceptions of Chiropractic students at the University of Johannesburg towards COVID-19 vaccination. The response rate of this study was 48% (N=119) of the Chiropractic students registered at the University of Johannesburg in 2022.
The study revealed that 87% (N=100) agree with the importance of developing a COVID-19 vaccine, 83% (N=93) of the participants agree that COVID-19 vaccination is important for the overall public health of their communities and 83.5% (N=96) of participants believe that vaccination is important for them as healthcare providers.
The data shows that 93% (N=107) of the participants agree that they are likely to be exposed to COVID-19 as healthcare providers. Sixty-six point nine percent (N=77) of the participants indicated that they have concerns about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines and 71.9% (N=82) of the participants indicated that they were concerned about the serious side effects from COVID-19 vaccines.
VII
Forty-eight point two percent (N=55) of the participants indicated that they believe the COVID-19 vaccines to be safe. Twenty-three point seven percent (N= 27) of the participants were undecided as to the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines.
The study revealed that 74.6% (N=85) of the participants would recommend vaccination against COVID-19 to their family and friends.
Conclusion: Although most of the participants of this study have concerns as to the efficacy and severe side effects from COVID-19 vaccines, most respondents acknowledge their perceived risk of exposure to COVID-19 as healthcare providers and believe in the importance of the development of vaccines against COVID-19. They similarly believe in the importance of COVID-19 vaccines to the overall public health of their communities and to them as healthcare providers.