Covid-19 vaccination hesitancy among Palestinian students

Much of the existing literature on vaccine hesitancy and resistance focuses on the explicit reasons individuals justify for their opposition to a particular vaccine or to vaccination programs in general. We, therefore, were interested to assess vaccine hesitancy among university students in Palestine. A valid and reliable multi-item questionnaire was made available online through social media to recruit Palestinian students. The survey was conducted between Feb-June, 2021, included socio-demographic information, knowledge and source of information about the disease, attitudes towards COVID-19 conspiracy. The total number of respondents in this study was 840 students. About 80% of the respondents were females, 5.8% of the respondents suffered from chronic diseases, 38.9% of the respondents suffered from COVID-19 themselves or a family member. The respondents' intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine was as follows: 65% of males, 45% of females, 53% with chronic diseases, 48% without chronic diseases, 51% of patients previously suffered from COVID-19. While the general intention to get an influenza vaccination was 315 (37.5%) of those surveyed. The general assumption that COVID-19 is a man-made disease was agreed by 390 (46%), with 66% of them intending to be vaccinated. The overall intent to receive COVID-19 vaccines was the highest among students who were relying on scientific sources for their information about the vaccine (63%). Misinformation triggered by unregulated social media can have potentially serious repercussions on individuals and the community if it takes precedence over evidence-based guidelines