Abstract
Vaccine hesitancy (uncertainty or unwillingness to receive vaccinations) is a major barrier to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in the long term. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the public in Kuwait, to understand their attitudes towards vaccines in general, and to identify predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 4147 adults aged ≥ 18 years. The snowball sampling strategy was used for data collection through social media and e-mails. A total of 3061 (73.8%) respondents indicated that they were vaccinated or intending to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 infection, while 1086 (26.2%) expressed their vaccine hesitancy. The most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy were the concerns about the vaccine's possible side effects, its rushed development, and its efficacy in preventing the infection. Over half (57.2%) of respondents expressed intermediate to high levels of negative attitude towards vaccines in general. On the multivariable logistic regression analysis, the findings revealed that vaccine hesitancy was significantly more prevalent among respondents aged 30-64 years; females; married or divorced; residents of Hawalli, Al-Farwaniyah, Al-Jahra, and Mubarak Al-Kabeer; had intermediate monthly average income; non-smokers; not feeling worried about catching the infection; do not know whether any of their family members have been infected or died because of COVID-19 infection; do not have a large extent of confidence in the Kuwait health system's ability to handle the pandemic; did not receive influenza vaccine during the last year; refused or elected to forego a doctor-recommended vaccine; did not receive adequate information from the public health authorities/healthcare providers about the COVID-19 vaccines; none of their first-degree family members received or were intending to receive the vaccine; and expressed intermediate to high levels of negative attitudes towards vaccines in general. The present findings provide a steer as to the groups that most need to be reached to increase the rates of vaccine uptake.