Abstract

Background and Aims:
While COVID-19 continues to rage worldwide, effective vaccines are highly anticipated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, doctors still have concerns regarding their confidence in counseling patients about the COVID-19 vaccine in Saudi Arabia. this study aimed to assess how confident are healthcare providers in giving counseling to patients about COVID-19 vaccine in Saudi Arabia.

Methods:
This cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2022 to August 2022 via online questionnaires to investigate the confidence and knowledge of the doctors regarding the COVID-19 vaccine who live in Saudi Arabia.

Results:
332 out of 400 was completed the questionnaire, significant differences were found between the qualification of the participant as, interns and residents show significantly lower confidence compared to consultants. Specifically, interns have a mean difference of -1.578 (p = 0.004), Vaccine development and vaccine trials” and “Vaccine efficiency,” with mean scores notably higher than those of interns, residents, and specialists. Specifically, consultants show significantly higher confidence in vaccine development and trials compared to other ranks, as indicated by the ANOVA results (F = 5.050, p = 0.002). However, the ANOVA results also reveal that confidence levels in areas such as “Vaccine administration,” “After vaccine administration,” “Vaccine misinformation,” and “Vaccine information” do not show significant differences between ranks (p > 0.05).

Conclusion:
The study found that doctors confidence levels ranging from low to moderate. The researchers recommend further investigation into the adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccine trials in other countries.

Key words: Saudi Arabia, doctors, covid-19 vaccines, counseling, confident