Frequency of COVID-19 Vaccination, Level of COVID-19 Fear among University Students: A Cross-sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) vaccination, the level of COVID-19 fear, and associated factors among university students.
METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional study participated by university students from Maltepe University, Türkiye, between September 23 and November 26, 2021. An online questionnaire form was used in the study due to the pandemic. The questionnaire included sociodemographic and related COVID-19 characteristics and the fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S).
RESULTS: A total of 3216 university students, 2276 (70.8%) female, participated in this study. Three thousand ninety-two (96.1%) were vaccinated against COVID-19. The FCV-19S scores of those vaccinated against COVID-19 were 18.0±7.2, while the FVS scores of those who were not vaccinated were 15.7±8.3 (p=0.001). When the factors affecting vaccination with COVID-19 were evaluated by regression analysis, it was determined that the history of COVID-19 infection (OR=1.837, 95% CI=1.173–2.876, and p=0.008), FCV-19S (OR=1.041, 95% CI=1.014–1.070, and p=0.003), and recommending the COVID-19 vaccine to others (OR=24.585, 95% CI=15.658–38.602, and p<0.001) had an effect on vaccination.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the overall vaccination frequency among university students is >96%, with different hesitancy frequency among university departments. Medical and health science students have the lowest frequency of vaccine hesitancy and lowest fear levels, suggesting that they know the COVID-19 process, and its consequences, and have accurate information about vaccines.