Evaluation of the Perceptions, Attitudes and Practices among Greek Non-Professional Athletes Visiting a Public Hospital during March 2022, towards COVID-19 Vaccination and Its Consequences on Sports Training and Sports Activity
Georgios Marinos,
Dimitrios Lamprinos,
Panagiotis Georgakopoulos,
Nikiforos Kavoukidis,
Evangelos Oikonomou,
Georgios Zoumpoulis,
Gerasimos Siasos,
Dimitrios Schizas,
Alexandros Nikolopoulos,
Petros G. Botonis,
Christos Damaskos,
Georgios Rachiotis,
Pagona Lagiou,
Philippos Orfanos
Affiliations
Georgios Marinos
Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 5 Mikras Asias Street, 11527 Athens, Greece
Dimitrios Lamprinos
Emergency Care Department, Laikon General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Panagiotis Georgakopoulos
Emergency Care Department, Laikon General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Nikiforos Kavoukidis
Department of Cardiology, Sismanoglio General Hospital, 15126 Amarousion, Greece
Evangelos Oikonomou
First Department of Cardiology, Hippokration General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Georgios Zoumpoulis
Emergency Care Department, Laikon General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Gerasimos Siasos
First Department of Cardiology, Hippokration General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Dimitrios Schizas
First Department of Surgery, National and Kapodistrian Laiko General Hospital, University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Alexandros Nikolopoulos
School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Petros G. Botonis
Department of Sports Medicine and Biology of Exercise, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Christos Damaskos
Renal Transplantation Unit, Laiko General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Georgios Rachiotis
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece
Pagona Lagiou
Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 5 Mikras Asias Street, 11527 Athens, Greece
Philippos Orfanos
Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 5 Mikras Asias Street, 11527 Athens, Greece
Sports have been majorly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the lockdown period, vaccination and protocols were implemented to return to normality. We aimed to assess the attitudes and practices related to COVID-19 vaccination among athletes, and to record adverse effects of vaccination, if any. A questionnaire was distributed to 1012 male and female athletes, 15+ years old, within the region of Athens. Vaccination coverage with at least one dose was 93.5%, whereas 53.9% were fully vaccinated. More than half of the participants were infected with SARS-CoV-2 at the time of the study. More than 90% of the participants, considered the vaccines as safe, effective and important for public health. Concern about potential side-effects was raised especially by women athletes (59.1% of women compared to 42.2% of men, p < 0.001). The main reasons for avoiding vaccination were fear of vaccine safety, concern about the short time period for vaccine development and testing and doubt of risk of being exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The main reported side-effects were pain at the injection site, fatigue, fever and headache. Approximately two thirds of the participants reported that vaccination did not affect their training, and none reported missing participation in scheduled athletic events. Participants reported high compliance to preventive measures by themselves and fellow athletes, but low satisfaction regarding the implementation of public protocols and the flow of information provided by the authorities. Athletes of older age and those less concerned about potential side-effects were more likely to get fully vaccinated. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the athletes in our study were vaccinated for COVID-19 despite any hesitation regarding effectiveness, safety, or potential side-effects from the vaccines.
