COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among Health Care Workers in the United Arab Emirates

Background Healthcare workers’ (HCW) COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is a threat to any healthcare system. Vaccine hesitancy can increase HCWs’ and patients’ infection risk, while also impacting patients' decision to accept the vaccine. Our study assessed United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) HCWs’ COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Methods Using purposive sampling, UAE HCWs registered in the Abu Dhabi Department of Health (DOH) email database were invited to complete an online questionnaire, between November 2020 and February 2021, to understand COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy, and trust in sources of information. Simple logistic regression was used to assess the associations between demographic factors with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Results Of the 2832 HCWs who participated in the study, 1963 (69.9%) were between ages 25 to 44 years and 1748 (61.7%) were females. Overall, 2525 (89.2%) of the HCW population said they would accept a COVID-19 vaccine. HCWs who were 55+ years of age, males, and physicians/surgeons were more likely to accept a COVID-19 vaccine;(OR: 3.1;95% CI: 1.5-6.2;p=0.002), (OR: 1.8;95% CI: 1.3-2.4;p<0.001), and (OR: 1.8;95% CI: 1.1-2.9;p=0.01), respectively. The most reliable sources for COVID-19 vaccine information were the UAE government (91.6%), health care providers (86.8%), health officials (86.3%), and the World Health Organization (WHO;81.1%). Conclusions The COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was high among the UAE HCWs population. Several factors were identified as significant determinants of vaccine acceptance. UAE health care authorities can utilize these findings to develop public health messaging campaigns for HCW to best address COVID-19 vaccine concerns—particularly as the government is vaccinating its general population.