Acceptance and hesitancy to receive COVID-19 vaccine among university students in Egypt: a nationwide survey

Background: The public's willingness to be vaccinated will determine the success of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. The aim of this study was to identify acceptance and hesitancy to receive COVID-19 vaccine among university students in Egypt, assess their level of knowledge about COVID-19 vaccine and identify barriers for hesitancy to uptake of COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: : This cross-sectional survey study included 1071 university students. A standardized and self-administered questionnaire was constructed by the authors and distributed to university students allover Egypt. Results: : Of the 1071 respondents, 739 (69%) were willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 while 223 (20.8%) reported vaccine hesitancy. Median knowledge score of participants about COVID-19 vaccine was 4 out of 8 (IQR=8). While fear of getting infected (53.6%) and desire to get back to normal life (51%) were the main motives for intention to get vaccinated, fear of serious side effects (100%) and doubting the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine (60.5%) were the main reasons for vaccine hesitancy and resistance. About 21% of students (n=225) reported voluntary uptake of COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion: We identified rates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy and detected poor knowledge scores among university students which may hinder vaccine acceptance. We also detected poor translation of vaccination intention into actual vaccine uptake. Educational campaigns and efforts aiming to raise awareness about safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines need to be directed to this important population.