Dr. M. Farid Hamzens

COVID-19 is an infectious disease that is still a health problem that needs to be prevented by the entire community. One of the efforts to prevent COVID-19 is to carry out COVID-19 vaccination. A person's COVID-19 vaccination behavior can be predicted by the individual's intentions as explained in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The intention to vaccinate against COVID-19 is also still a problem in implementing the COVID-19 vaccination program, especially in Tangerang Regency.

Coronavirus Disease-19 or COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-2 virus which attacks the respiratory tract in humans, ranging from mild to severe symptoms and even causing death. Positive cases of COVID-19 in the world as of August 4 2021 had reached 199,466,211 cases, with a total of 4,244,541 deaths.

The development of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia is very high and has caused Indonesia to rank fourth highest in COVID-19 cases in the world, with a total of 3,532,567 cases and a death toll of 100,636 people from the number of confirmed cases (WHO, 2021). One of the provinces in the top ten highest cases is Banten province which is ranked seventh, with a total of 113,995 confirmed positive cases and a death toll of 2,495 people. The region in Banten Province that is ranked first in COVID-19 cases is Tangerang Regency with a total of 23,459 positive cases and a death toll of 368 people.

The rate of transmission of COVID-19 is still very fast, namely it has a reproduction number of 2.5, which means that each person can infect two to three other people (Petrosillo et al., 2020). Various efforts have been made to reduce mortality and morbidity rates in society caused by COVID-19, one of which is by implementing the COVID-19 vaccination program which is expected to be able to resolve this pandemic and make life return to normal as before.

The COVID-19 pandemic not only has an impact on health problems but also economic problems in society. So the government has set a target of administering the COVID-19 vaccine in the community at 70% to achieve group immunity. However, providing COVID-19 vaccination in the community, especially Tangerang Regency, is still an issue that needs to be considered and resolved, because the results of previous studies show that of the 38 respondents, the majority of people aged ≥ 18 years in Tangerang Regency do not intend to vaccinate against COVID-19, namely 60 .5%. The behavior of COVID-19 vaccination in the community is an indicator of the success of the COVID-19 vaccination program and the achievement of group immunity in the community. COVID-19 vaccination behavior in society can be predicted using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) developed by Ajzen (2005), where a person's behavior can be predicted from that person's intentions.

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) explains that a person's intention to behave is influenced by three main factors, namely attitudes towards behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 2005). So the intention to vaccinate against COVID-19 is a person's desire to vaccinate against COVID-19 which can be influenced by attitudes, subjective norms and perceptions of behavioral control (Guidry, Jeanine P.D., et al 2021).

The more positive a person's attitude, subjective norms and perception of behavioral control, the higher the person's intention to carry out a behavior, and the higher the intention a person has, the stronger the person's possibility of carrying out a behavior and vice versa.

Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination behavior are individual beliefs that respond or react to COVID-19 vaccination behavior which are based on the individual's assessment of the advantages or disadvantages of COVID-19 vaccination (Wolff, 2021). Then the subjective norm regarding COVID-19 vaccination is a person's beliefs which are influenced by the social environment or the beliefs and motivations of other people (parents, friends, community figures, and other people around them) which will influence the intention to vaccinate against COVID-19 (Wolff, 2021).

Perception of behavioral control regarding COVID-19 vaccination is a person's view based on the individual's assessment and consideration of his or her abilities, which refers to ease or difficulty.

tan to carry out the COVID-19 vaccination (Wolff, 2021).

Attitudes, subjective norms and perceptions of behavioral control are also indirectly influenced by background factors such as age, education, and even experience and knowledge that they may gain from circulating information (Ajzen, 2005).

Previous research conducted by Malik, et al (2020) in the United States, stated that of 672 respondents, 67% of respondents intended to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if the vaccine was available and the other 33% of respondents did not intend to get the vaccine. Meanwhile, research conducted by Sherman et al (2020) in England stated that of 1,500 respondents aged ≥ 18 years, 64% of respondents intended to vaccinate against COVID-19, another 27% of respondents were still hesitant, and 9% of respondents did not intend to do so. COVID-19 vaccination.

Research conducted by WHO, Ministry of Health, NITAG and UNICEF (2020) in Indonesia also stated that 7.6% refused vaccination, 27.6% were hesitant about vaccination, and 64.8% accepted COVID-19 vaccination, meaning the level of acceptance of vaccination COVID-19 in Indonesia has still not reached 70%.

The majority of respondents do not intend to vaccinate against COVID-19. The majority of respondents also had negative attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control towards COVID-19 vaccination. In this study, there was a significant relationship between attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control towards vaccination and intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. Increasing public knowledge regarding vaccines and the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination needs to be increased, one of which is by involving community leaders who have been given education so that public knowledge regarding vaccines and the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination increases so that it can generate vaccination intentions in individuals. It is then hoped that companies can also collaborate with related partners to be able to organize COVID-19 vaccinations in their companies for their workers. (zr)

The author is a researcher and public health lecturer at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN), Jakarta.