Exploring healthcare workers’ immunisation behaviour towards COVID-19 vaccines through psychological patterns

Background: The psychological approach can provide valuable insights into vaccination behaviour, especially in high-risk contexts. It offers new perspectives for effective interventions to improve vaccination behaviour. Aim: To investigate key factors influencing stress related to vaccination in emergency situations among healthcare professionals. Setting: Eastern region of Morocco. Methods: We conducted a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study involving 221 healthcare professionals in the Eastern region of Morocco. A snowball sampling method was used to select the participants who were administered a questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was performed with p < 0.05 being the level of statistical significance. Results: The participants had a median age of 25.5 years (30–34.5) and were predominantly females (68.3%). Vaccination coverage stood at 84.6%, with a positive perception of 77.8%. The analysis of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) revealed that 51.6% (n = 114) of healthcare professionals experienced stress towards vaccination. Females were almost two times more susceptible to experiencing vaccination stress (p = 0.03). Furthermore, the analysis showed that vaccination profile (p = 0.02), accepting the vaccine for any reason other than its accessibility (p = 0.03) and having a previous coronavirus disease 2019 infection (p = 0.03), were significantly associated with stress. In contrast, healthcare professionals based at the university hospital had a significantly lower stress level (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Moroccan healthcare professionals exhibited high vaccine acceptance and positive perceptions, particularly among vaccinated individuals despite notable stress around immunisation. Contribution: These insights can guide governments and policymakers in developing strategies to enhance healthcare workers’ awareness and understanding of vaccination.