Attitudes and Practices Related to COVID-19 Vaccination with the Second Booster Dose among Members of Athens Medical Association: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study
Georgios Zoumpoulis,
Paraskevi Deligiorgi,
Dimitrios Lamprinos,
Panagiotis Georgakopoulos,
Evangelos Oikonomou,
Gerasimos Siasos,
Georgios Rachiotis,
Christos Damaskos,
Dimitrios Papagiannis,
Kostas A. Papavassiliou,
George Patoulis,
Fotios Patsourakos,
Vasiliki Benetou,
Elena Riza,
Philippos Orfanos,
Pagona Lagiou,
Georgios Marinos
Affiliations
Georgios Zoumpoulis
Emergency Care Department, Laiko General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Paraskevi Deligiorgi
Emergency Care Department, Laiko General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Dimitrios Lamprinos
Emergency Care Department, Laiko General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Panagiotis Georgakopoulos
Emergency Care Department, Laiko General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Evangelos Oikonomou
First Department of Cardiology, Hippokration General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Gerasimos Siasos
First Department of Cardiology, Hippokration General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Georgios Rachiotis
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece
Christos Damaskos
Renal Transplantation Unit, Laiko General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Dimitrios Papagiannis
Public Health & Vaccines Laboratory, Department of Nursing, School of Health Science, University of Thessaly, 38221 Volos, Greece
Kostas A. Papavassiliou
First Department of Respiratory Medicine, “Sotiria” Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
George Patoulis
Athens’s Medical Association, 11527 Athens, Greece
Fotios Patsourakos
Athens’s Medical Association, 11527 Athens, Greece
Vasiliki Benetou
Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Elena Riza
Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Philippos Orfanos
Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Pagona Lagiou
Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Georgios Marinos
Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Background: There are limited data on the attitudes and acceptance of the second booster (fourth dose) of the COVID-19 vaccination among physicians. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based, online study was conducted among members of the Athens Medical Association (A.M.A.) who were invited to participate anonymously over the period from January to March 2023. Results: From the 1224 members who participated in the survey, 53.9% did not receive the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The main reasons for no vaccination were the lack of obligation to receive the fourth dose, the history of three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and the lack of sufficient information about the effectiveness of the fourth dose. Over half of the three-dose-vaccinated participants were willing to receive the fourth dose in the near future. Interestingly, the vaccination coverage among participants who had been informed about the fourth dose through scientific sources was low. Conclusions: The low vaccination coverage with the fourth dose reported in this study can lead to broad and serious consequences, such as increase in COVID-19 infections, reduction of available healthcare staff and increased caseloads of COVID-19 in hospitals. Furthermore, hesitant physicians will adversely influence the vaccination uptake among the general population due to their key role in informing and recommending the vaccine. The healthcare system administration should acknowledge and address physician’s concerns through effective communication and better support.
