Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination Among Internally Displaced People in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG)

Iraq has yet to establish and initiate any vaccination initiatives to address the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and mitigate its spread and mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the existing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding COVID-19 vaccination amid the third wave of the outbreak. This cross-sectional study utilized an anonymous online questionnaire, modeled after a study conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to investigate COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and practices during the third wave of the outbreak in the country. In total, 2744 subjects from 27 camp for Internally Displaced People (IDP camps) in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, mostly male 1642 (61.4%), either with no previous education 701 (26.2%) or with a primary school degree 973 (36.4%), married 1610 (60.2%) and since 2014 1540 (57.6%) stationaed in the IDP Camps were included in the study. Mean age of our sample was 35.2±12.9 ranging 18- 94 years. The mean knowledge test score for our sample was 6.9±3.7 with correct answer rates ranging 27.7-78.2%. Only 31 (1.2%) of subjects scored maximum points on the knowledge test score. In total 1170 (42.7%) subjects agreed that COVID-19 vaccination programs will prevail in a battle versus COVID-19, while 1592 (58.0%) agreed that everyone should be vaccinated against COVID-19. Regarding the vaccination rates, only 421 (15.3%) have already been vaccinated against COVID-19, while 1658 (62.7%) expressed interest to get vaccinated in the future. Our study sheds light on vaccination attitudes among IDP camps in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Despite lower knowledge scores, willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 is relatively high, likely due to limited access to vaccines, perceived risk of the disease, and trust in healthcare providers.