COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy and Vaccine Hesitancy Among University Students

Aim: This study aims to determine the COVID-19 vaccine literacy level and vaccine hesitancy in university students. Material and Method: The sample of the descriptive-relationship-seeking study consisted of university students (n=422) studying in health programs. Data; The Personal Information Form was collected online using the COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy Scale and the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale-Short Form. In data analysis, independent samples t-test, One Way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation test were used. The level of statistical significance was accepted as p<0.05. Results: The COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy mean scores of the students were found to be 2.76 ± 0.49 and the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale mean scores were 31.85 ± 9.07. It has been observed that there was a weak, negative linear relationship between COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy and Vaccine Hesitancy (r= -0.226, p<0.01). As the level of COVID-19 vaccine literacy increases, vaccine hesitancy decreases. Conclusions: Determining the COVID-19 vaccine literacy and vaccine hesitancy status in university students is important in terms of guiding the studies to be carried out for the protection and promotion of public health.