LAUSR

Objectives The purpose of our study was to assess COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among health care workers (HCW) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and identify: 1) vaccine acceptance barriers; 2) demographic differences; and 3) the most trusted COVID-19 sources of information. Methods Between October and December 2020, all registered HCW in the KSA were emailed a survey questionnaire, using Qualtrics® and Google Forms®, evaluating the acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine. Results Of the 23,582 participants surveyed, 15,299 (64.9%) said they would accept a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine acceptance among HCW differed by several demographic characteristics with males (69.7%), Christians (71.9%), and Pakistanis (81.6%) were most likely to accept a COVID-19 vaccine. Of the 8,202 (35.1%) who said they would not accept a COVID-19 vaccine, the main reason reported was fear of potential side effects (58.5%). Participants reported health officials (84.6%) as the most reliable source of COVID-19 information. Additionally, participants reported the highest confidence in the KSA Ministry of Health (88.5%). Conclusions Overall, these findings provide KSA health care authorities with the information needed to develop public health messaging campaigns for HCW to best address COVID-19 vaccine concerns—especially as the country prepares to vaccinate its general population.