Author(s): Buppachat Urairak
The objective of this research was to study factors affecting the behavior for acceptance and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among nurses in Thailand. The sample group used in this research consists of 400 professional nurses residing in Thailand. The data was collected using questionnaires with a reliability coefficient of 0.837. The statistics used in this research were the descriptive statistics. The hypotheses were tested using t-test, Pearson Correlation, and Multiple regressions. The research results revealed that regarding the eligibility of COVID-19 vaccine type did not influence the decision to get vaccinated at the statistical significance level of 0.05. The independent variables influenced the decision of acceptance and uptake of vaccine of nurses in Thailand a little with the influence value of only 8.7%, while the social influence factors and environmental factors were influencing factors with the influence value of 0.248 and 0.191, respectively. As the sample group was registered nurses with medical knowledge, they had greater confidence in their own decisions rather than influences from other factors. It was found that the level of behavior of acceptance and uptake of COVID-19 vaccine among Thai nurses was high at the significant level of 0.05 with the mean of 4.18. Therefore, Thailand should formulate the strategies in urgently finding the vaccines and accelerating the COVID-19 vaccination rate among healthcare professionals and registered nurses as quickly as possible in order to help building the confidence among the general public. This will lead to herd immunity in Thailand in an efficient and effective manner and in timely fashion to solve the current critical situation.