TY - JOUR
T1 - Unwillingness or reluctance of Palestinians to get the COVID-19 vaccine
T2 - the reasons behind it and how to persuade them
AU - Abu-Odah, Hammoda
AU - Su, Jing
AU - Musa, Salihu Sabiu
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding sources. HAO carried out the study. All authors drafted and revised the manuscript and gave final approval for publication. An ethical approval was undertaken from the health research department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Written informed consent was also obtained from the study participants. The authors would like to thank Professor Deborah Lindell from Case Western Reserve University for her comments and editing inputs.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Objectives: A brief discussion with policy leaders and citizens was conducted to understand the unwillingness of people to get the COVID-19 vaccine and their suggestions to increase the vaccination level. Background: Despite the crucial benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine, people are unwilling to get vaccinated. Vaccine hesitancy is a significant problem globally. In Palestine, at the time of this study only about 30% of the population were vaccinated. Methods: We used a descriptive qualitative design with semistructured interviews. Discussion: The unwillingness of Palestinian people to get the COVID-19 vaccine was attributed to the spread of false rumours, misinformation, and conspiracy theories they received about the vaccine on the social media and mistrust towards vaccines the government purchased. There is a dire need to develop motivational strategies (i.e., incentives) and reconsider the media discourse and its unification to encourage people to get the vaccines. Social media and professionals should report the benefits/effectiveness of vaccination and avoid exaggerating its' side-effects.
AB - Objectives: A brief discussion with policy leaders and citizens was conducted to understand the unwillingness of people to get the COVID-19 vaccine and their suggestions to increase the vaccination level. Background: Despite the crucial benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine, people are unwilling to get vaccinated. Vaccine hesitancy is a significant problem globally. In Palestine, at the time of this study only about 30% of the population were vaccinated. Methods: We used a descriptive qualitative design with semistructured interviews. Discussion: The unwillingness of Palestinian people to get the COVID-19 vaccine was attributed to the spread of false rumours, misinformation, and conspiracy theories they received about the vaccine on the social media and mistrust towards vaccines the government purchased. There is a dire need to develop motivational strategies (i.e., incentives) and reconsider the media discourse and its unification to encourage people to get the vaccines. Social media and professionals should report the benefits/effectiveness of vaccination and avoid exaggerating its' side-effects.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Palestine
KW - Unwillingness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127739169&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.03.039
DO - 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.03.039
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 35346835
AN - SCOPUS:85127739169
SN - 1201-9712
VL - 119
SP - 53
EP - 55
JO - International Journal of Infectious Diseases
JF - International Journal of Infectious Diseases
ER -
