Kesedaran, Pengetahuan dan Sikap Masyarakat Awam Terhadap Vaksin Covid-19 Konvensional dan Berasaskan Bioteknologi Moden di Malaysia (Public Awareness, Knowledge, and Attitude towards Conventional and Modern Biotechnology Based Vaccines in Malaysia)

Abstract

Pandemik COVID-19 telah membawa anjakan paradigma terhadap peranan dan sumbangan bidang bioteknologi dalam mengekang penularan virus SARS-CoV-2 ini di seluruh dunia dengan penghasilan produk vaksin COVID-19 sama ada melalui kaedah konvensional mahupun berasaskan bioteknologi moden. Malaysia yang kini menjalankan Program Imunisasi COVID-19 Kebangsaan telah meluluskan pendaftaran bersyarat beberapa jenis vaksin untuk kegunaan semasa pandemik buat rakyatnya bagi mencapai tahap imuniti kelompok yang disasarkan. Justeru, kajian ini bertujuan untuk menilai tahap kesedaran, pengetahuan kendiri  dan sikap masyarakat awam mengenai tiga jenis vaksin COVID-19 yang berbeza di Malaysia iaitu vaksin virus tidak aktif seperti Sinovac, vaksin vektor virus seperti AstraZeneca dan vaksin mRNA seperti Pfizer. Satu survei telah dijalankan menggunakan platform tinjauan atas talian ke atas masyarakat awam di Malaysia bermula daripada 19 Jun sehingga 2 Julai 2021. Daripada 357 responden, min umur adalah 34.75±10.35 dengan 67.2% daripadanya mempunyai latarbelakang pengajian berkaitan STEM. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa tahap kesedaran awam terhadap ketiga-tiga jenis vaksin COVID-19 adalah tinggi, tetapi tahap pengetahuan kendiri mengenainya adalah sederhana. Secara umumnya, masyarakat awam di Malaysia menunjukkan sikap yang positif terhadap vaksin. Mereka menganggap ketiga-tiga vaksin ini sebagai mempunyai manfaat dan diterima agama pada tahap tinggi yang seterusnya diterjemahkan kepada perilaku penerimaan yang tinggi. Walaubagaimanapun, mereka turut mengakui kerisauan tentang risiko ketiga-tiga vaksin pada tahap sederhana. Dapatan kajian ini memainkan peranan yang penting dalam melihat tahap ketersediaan masyarakat Malaysia untuk menerima vaksin disamping dapat memberikan gambaran mengenai sikap semasa orang awam terhadap usaha vaksinasi yang diselaraskan oleh kerajaan Malaysia.

Kata kunci: Tahap kesedaran; Pengetahuan kendiri; Perilaku berniat; Vaksin COVID-19; Konvensional; Bioteknologi moden

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a paradigm shift in the role and contribution of biotechnology in curbing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide with the production of COVID-19 vaccines either through conventional or modern biotechnology-based methods. Malaysia, which is currently running the National COVID-19 Immunization Program, has approved the conditional registration of several types of vaccines for use during pandemic for its citizens to achieve the targeted level of herd immunity. Thus, this study aims to assess the level of public awareness, self-rated knowledge, and attitude towards three different types of COVID-19 vaccines in Malaysia namely inactivated virus vaccines such as Sinovac, viral vector vaccines such as AstraZeneca and mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer. A survey was conducted using an online survey platform on Malaysians from 19 June to 2 July 2021. Of the 357 respondents, the mean age was 34.75 ± 10.35 with 67.2% of them from STEM-related educational background. Results of the study shows that the Malaysian public were highly aware of the three types of COVID-19 vaccines, but their self-rated knowledge was moderate. Generally, the public were positive towards vaccines. They perceived all the vaccines as having high benefits and highly acceptable from their religious point of view which was translated into high intention to adopt. However, they acknowledged moderate worries on the possible risks of the vaccines. The results of this study play an important role in evaluating the readiness of the Malaysian community to adopt COVID-19 vaccines besides providing an insight into the current attitude of the public towards the vaccination efforts coordinated by the Malaysian government.

Keywords: Public awareness; Self-rated knowledge; Behavioural intention; COVID-19 vaccines; Conventional; Modern biotechnology