COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in older Syrian refugees: Preliminary findings from an ongoing study

Noura Salibi; Sawsan Abdulrahim; Maria El Haddad; Stephanie Bassil; Zeina El Khoury; Hala Ghattas; Stephen J McCall

doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101606

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in older Syrian refugees: Preliminary findings from an ongoing study

Noura Salibi, Sawsan Abdulrahim^* (Corresponding Author), Maria El Haddad, Stephanie Bassil, Zeina El Khoury, Hala Ghattas, Stephen J McCall

^*Corresponding author for this work

Applied Health Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This study assesses COVID-19 vaccine intentions among a sample of older Syrian refugee beneficiaries of a humanitarian organization in Lebanon, and explores factors associated with vaccine refusal. The findings are part of an ongoing rotating 4-wave panel study. The sample was limited to participants from the first panel who completed a phone interview between January-February 2021. Out of 1,037 beneficiaries, almost a third (29%) reported no intention to vaccinate. Reasons for refusal were: newness of the vaccine (35%); preference to maintain precaution measures (21%); belief that the COVID-19 vaccine is not essential (21%); and other (23%). COVID-19 vaccine refusal was significantly associated with perceptions regarding vaccine safety (OR: 5.97; 95%CI: 4.03-8.84) and effectiveness (OR: 6.80; 95%CI:4.44-10.42) but did not differ by age, presence of chronic conditions, self-reported adherence to COVID-19 measures, and perceptions of susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19. Addressing vaccine hesitancy among Syrian refugees in Lebanon necessitates disseminating accurate, accessible, and culturally appropriate information about vaccine safety and effectiveness.

Original language	English
Article number	101606
Number of pages	5
Journal	Preventive medicine reports
Volume	24
Early online date	19 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101606
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2021

Keywords

Vaccine acceptance
COVID-19
Refugees
Older adults
Lebanon

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in older Syrian refugees : Preliminary findings from an ongoing study. / Salibi, Noura; Abdulrahim, Sawsan (Corresponding Author); El Haddad, Maria; Bassil, Stephanie; El Khoury, Zeina; Ghattas, Hala; McCall, Stephen J.

In: Preventive medicine reports, Vol. 24, 101606, 01.12.2021.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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title = "COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in older Syrian refugees: Preliminary findings from an ongoing study",

abstract = "This study assesses COVID-19 vaccine intentions among a sample of older Syrian refugee beneficiaries of a humanitarian organization in Lebanon, and explores factors associated with vaccine refusal. The findings are part of an ongoing rotating 4-wave panel study. The sample was limited to participants from the first panel who completed a phone interview between January-February 2021. Out of 1,037 beneficiaries, almost a third (29%) reported no intention to vaccinate. Reasons for refusal were: newness of the vaccine (35%); preference to maintain precaution measures (21%); belief that the COVID-19 vaccine is not essential (21%); and other (23%). COVID-19 vaccine refusal was significantly associated with perceptions regarding vaccine safety (OR: 5.97; 95%CI: 4.03-8.84) and effectiveness (OR: 6.80; 95%CI:4.44-10.42) but did not differ by age, presence of chronic conditions, self-reported adherence to COVID-19 measures, and perceptions of susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19. Addressing vaccine hesitancy among Syrian refugees in Lebanon necessitates disseminating accurate, accessible, and culturally appropriate information about vaccine safety and effectiveness.",

keywords = "Vaccine acceptance, COVID-19, Refugees, Older adults, Lebanon",

author = "Noura Salibi and Sawsan Abdulrahim and {El Haddad}, Maria and Stephanie Bassil and {El Khoury}, Zeina and Hala Ghattas and McCall, {Stephen J}",

note = "Funding source This work was supported by ELRHA{\textquoteright}s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crisis (R2HC) Programme, which aims to improve health outcomes by strengthening the evidence base for public health interventions in humanitarian crises. R2HC is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Wellcome, and the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The views expressed herein should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of the NRC or ELRHA. The funding agency was not involved in the data collection, analysis or interpretation. ",

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AB - This study assesses COVID-19 vaccine intentions among a sample of older Syrian refugee beneficiaries of a humanitarian organization in Lebanon, and explores factors associated with vaccine refusal. The findings are part of an ongoing rotating 4-wave panel study. The sample was limited to participants from the first panel who completed a phone interview between January-February 2021. Out of 1,037 beneficiaries, almost a third (29%) reported no intention to vaccinate. Reasons for refusal were: newness of the vaccine (35%); preference to maintain precaution measures (21%); belief that the COVID-19 vaccine is not essential (21%); and other (23%). COVID-19 vaccine refusal was significantly associated with perceptions regarding vaccine safety (OR: 5.97; 95%CI: 4.03-8.84) and effectiveness (OR: 6.80; 95%CI:4.44-10.42) but did not differ by age, presence of chronic conditions, self-reported adherence to COVID-19 measures, and perceptions of susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19. Addressing vaccine hesitancy among Syrian refugees in Lebanon necessitates disseminating accurate, accessible, and culturally appropriate information about vaccine safety and effectiveness.

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COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in older Syrian refugees: Preliminary findings from an ongoing study

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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