2.1. Design and setting
This cross-sectional study was conducted online during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic between February 1, 2021, to March 30, 2021. The sample of the study consisted of 1100 students who are enrolled in the Faculty of Nursing of a public university in the metropolitan city of Izmir. Out of 524 students who voluntarily participated in the study, a total of 498 students were included, whereas 26 students who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 were excluded because their willingness to be vaccinated can no longer be questioned. The COVID-19 vaccination program in Turkey started on January 14, 2021, with the Chinese-made inactivated vaccine Sinovac, which was to be administered in two doses to HCPs and the elderly over 65 years of age. Phizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccines were introduced onto the vaccination program on April 02, 2021[1]. By the time this study was conducted, nursing students had not been included in the national immunization program.