Relationship Between Primary School Teachers' COVID-19 Fear Levels and COVID-19 Vaccine Attitudes After the Start of Face-to-Face Education During the Pandemic Period: A School Health Study.

Abstract

Context: Starting face-to-face education while the COVID-19 pandemic was ongoing was a risk for public health. Determining teachers' initial reactions to public health practices during this high-risk period may contribute to the redesign of public health and school nursing policies.

Objective: The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between primary school teachers' COVID-19 fear levels and COVID-19 vaccine attitudes.

Design: The research has a descriptive correlational design. The data were obtained from teachers working in primary schools (n = 430). Simple random sampling method was used in the data collection process. Data were obtained with the Scale of Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccine and Fear of COVID-19 Scale.

Results: In the study, 50.5% of teachers reported that they were afraid of catching COVID-19, 41.9% said their risk of catching COVID-19 was "high," and 87.7% reported that they voluntarily got the COVID-19 vaccine. Of the teachers, 4.6% (n = 20) stated that they regretted getting vaccinated. A positive and significant relationship was found between teachers' Fear of COVID-19 Scale and COVID-19 Vaccine Attitude Scale scores (r = 0.133, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: During the pandemic, it was observed that teachers' fear level of COVID-19 increased with the start of face-to-face education. In addition, it is seen that teachers started to have doubts about some public health practices. This may indicate that public health nurses should take a more active role in school health practices.