tBackground: Herd immunity through vaccination is the target of public health interventions againstCOVID-19, but vaccine refusal or hesitancy is one of the global threats that make achievement of com-munity immunity very difficult. The aim of this study was to determine negative attitudes and intentionsand their predictors towards COVID-19 vaccines.Methods: This was cross sectional survey, that targeted 1011 Egyptians aged 18 years and above, from24 governorates, during the period from 7 January 2021, to 30 March 2021. Using a convenient sam-pling technique, the data were collected through an online self-administered, structured questionnaire,which was composed of two main sections, that involved sociodemographic and health related factors,intentions, and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines.Results: The mean age of participants was 29.35 ± 10.78 years, (16.6 %) of them had COVID-19. (54%) ofrespondents, reported COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and 21% of them reported vaccine non-acceptancewhile (27.1%) of participants preferred receiving Pfizer vaccine. (51.8%) of the respondents expressedstrong worries about unforeseen effects of the vaccine which was associated with younger age groups,married, females, absence of history of allergy to food or drugs, perceived susceptibility to COVID 19 andnever having flu vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy was associated with female sex, urban residence, univer-sity/post graduate, married respondents, those never had flu vaccine, and those did not have confidencein the ability of health system to control the epidemic. Female sex, urban residence and having concernsabout unforeseen effects were predictors for vaccine hesitancy and vaccine non-acceptance.Conclusion: The observed high level of worries about unforeseen effects of COVID-19 vaccines andwidespread vaccine hesitancy amongst Egyptians and its predictors should be considered during imple-mentation of public health intervention campaigns to change negative attitudes and improve acceptanceand uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in Egypt |
