Kongo, E.; Shpati, K.; Dama, A.; Ymeraj, S.; Murati, E.; Veliaj, U.; Xinxo, S. Determinant Factors of Voluntary or Mandatory Vaccination against COVID-19: A Survey Study among Students at Albanian University. Vaccines2023, 11, 1215.
Kongo, E.; Shpati, K.; Dama, A.; Ymeraj, S.; Murati, E.; Veliaj, U.; Xinxo, S. Determinant Factors of Voluntary or Mandatory Vaccination against COVID-19: A Survey Study among Students at Albanian University. Vaccines 2023, 11, 1215.
Kongo, E.; Shpati, K.; Dama, A.; Ymeraj, S.; Murati, E.; Veliaj, U.; Xinxo, S. Determinant Factors of Voluntary or Mandatory Vaccination against COVID-19: A Survey Study among Students at Albanian University. Vaccines2023, 11, 1215.
Kongo, E.; Shpati, K.; Dama, A.; Ymeraj, S.; Murati, E.; Veliaj, U.; Xinxo, S. Determinant Factors of Voluntary or Mandatory Vaccination against COVID-19: A Survey Study among Students at Albanian University. Vaccines 2023, 11, 1215.
Abstract
Introduction. Covid-19 faced the world with serious health and socioeconomic issues. At the very beginning of the pandemics, the vaccine was considered by health authorities and the medical community the only way to curb the spread of the virus. One of the measures that have been proposed to increase vaccinations was the mandatory policy. The purpose of this study was to compare determinants of voluntary and mandatory vaccination among students of Albanian University. Methodology: This cross-sectional study by means of an online survey, was conducted among students enrolled in the private University “Albanian University”, Tirana, Albania during the last week of winter semester 7-14 Feb 2022. Results: 878 students participated in this study, among them 612 (69.7%) were females, 266 (30%) were males. 506 (57%) of the participants were enrolled in Medical Sciences (MS), 372(42.3%) were Non-Medical Science (Non-MS) group. 773 (88%) was vaccinated against Covid-19, 105 (11.8%) were not vaccinated. 466 (53%) reported voluntary vaccination, 412 (46.9%) reported mandatory vaccination. Among students that vaccinated voluntary 266 (57%) were from MS group, 200(42.9%) from Non-MS group. 237(57.5%) of students in mandatory vaccination group were from MS group, 175 (42.4%) from Non-MS. Conlusion. Vaccine safety and efficacy were hindering factors of vaccination. Also, based on the results of this study, the students felt encouraged to vaccinate by the academic staff. This clearly demonstrates that the staff does not lack the skills to enhance stu-dents' knowledge about the risk of infectious diseases and the importance of vaccination. Therefore, to influence as much as possible students’ attitude toward vaccination, comprehensive educational programs including modification of existing curricula should be considered.
Keywords
Covid-19; Vaccine; Medical Science Students; Mandatory Policy
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
