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COVID-19 and Vaccine Hesitancy: Could Health Literacy be the Solution?
  • Funda Kocaay,
  • Fatih Yığman,
  • Nursemin Unal
Funda Kocaay
Ankara Medipol University
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Fatih Yığman
Ufuk University
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Nursemin Unal
Ankara Medipol University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

Aim: Practices such as the use of masks, cleaning measures, and social distancing have come to the fore to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to this, the most important way to fight the epidemic seems to be vaccination. However, “vaccine hesitancy” is seen as an important obstacle to attempts to control the pandemic. With this study, we have aimed to evaluate the effects of having inadequate or incorrect information, one of the possible determinants of attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Study Design: A cross-sectional design was used. Methods: The data were collected via an online questionnaire from patients who agreed to participate in the study. Sociodemographic Data Form, Turkey Health Literacy Scale-32 (THLS-32) and Anti-Vaccine Scale are filled by 496 participants in total. Results: According to the results of our study, 7.5% of the participants stated that they would not be vaccinated and 14.3% are indecisive. We have found a negative correlation between vaccine refusal and health literacy, thus confirming the main hypothesis of our study. Also, education year was a negative predictor of vaccine hesitation. Conclusions: Currently, the most important approach in fighting the pandemic is the vaccination of society. Having the right information is extremely important to fight vaccine refusal attitudes. The fight against vaccination requires joint efforts from governments and media resources, including social media.