DESPOINA GKENTZI

and 7 more

Rational, aims and objectives: Our study aims to assess attitudes, knowledge and influenza vaccine uptake of school teachers and the intention to uptake influenza vaccine as well as the COVID-19 vaccine and to identify factors associated with vaccine acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among school teachers in the area of Western Greece from June 2020 to August 2020. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed via an internet-based link along with an invitation email. Results: Responses from 399 participants were retrieved. 139 (34.8%) had received the annual influenza vaccine in the season 2019-2020 whereas 215 (53.9%) stated that they would get it in the forthcoming season 2020-202(p < 0.001). 152 (38.1%) intent to get the COVID-19 vaccine when available. For COVID-19 vaccine factors that were independently associated with the intention to uptake included more than 15 years at work (p=0.001), prior influenza vaccine uptake (p=0.003), believing that COVID 19 vaccine should be mandatory (p=0.04) and that school teachers are a high-risk group for COVID-19 (p=0.001). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have an impact on the intention of school teachers to get vaccinated for influenza. The low level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance intention amongst the teachers in our cohort warrants further attention. Public health interventions should aim to increase knowledge on both influenza and COVID-19 and prevention of them via immunization in this particular at-risk population.