Alhasan, KhalidAljamaan, FadiTemsah, Mohamad-HaniAlshahrani, FatimahBassrawi, RolanAlhaboob, AliAssiri, RashaAlenezi, ShuliweehAlaraj, AliAlhomoudi, Reham I.Batais, Mohammed A.Al-Eyadhy, LamaHalwani, RabihAbdulMajeed, NaifAl-Jedai, AhmedSenjab, AbdulrahmanMemish, Ziad A.Al-Subaie, SarahBarry, MazinAl-Tawfiq, Jaffar A.2022-03-142022-03-142021-11Alhasan, K., Aljamaan, F., Temsah, M.-H., Alshahrani, F., Bassrawi, R., Alhaboob, A., Assiri, R., Alenezi, S., Alaraj, A., Alhomoudi, R. I., Batais, M. A., Al-Eyadhy, L., Halwani, R., AbdulMajeed, N., Al-Jedai, A., Senjab, A., Memish, Z. A., Al-Subaie, S., Barry, M., & Al-Tawfiq, J. A. (2021). COVID-19 Delta Variant: Perceptions, Worries, and Vaccine-Booster Acceptability among Healthcare Workers. Healthcare, 9(11), 1566. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare91115662227-9032https://hdl.handle.net/1805/28147Background: As the COVID-19 Delta variant has spread across the globe, healthcare workers’ (HCWs) knowledge, worries, and vaccine booster acceptance should be assessed. Methods: Online questionnaires aimed at HCWs in Saudi Arabia were distributed between 9 and 12 August 2021, aiming to evaluate HCWs’ perceptions and worries about the Delta variant as well as their feelings about receiving a booster-vaccine. Results: A total of 1279 HCWs participated, with 51.1% being physicians and 41.7% nurses. 92.5% were aware of the emergence of the Delta variant. Still, only 28.7% were found to have sufficient knowledge of the variant, and their level of worry about it was higher than their level of worry about the Alpha variant (2.32/5 versus 1.79/5). The main information sources cited by the participants were social media (50.5%), while 30.5% used scientific journals. Overall, 55.3% were willing to receive a vaccine booster, while one third would have preferred to receive a new mRNA vaccine specifically developed for the Delta variant. Factors associated with vaccine booster acceptance were receiving both vaccination doses (p = 0.008), believing that the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine is effective against variants (p < 0.001), and agreement that mixing/matching vaccines is effective against variants (p < 0.001). Conclusions: A high percentage of HCWs were aware of the Delta variant, but only a small fraction had decent quality of knowledge about it. The participants exhibited high worry levels and showed a modest acceptance of receiving a vaccine booster dose. These results should encourage public health officials to scale up educational efforts to disseminate reliable information about the different variants and provide recommendations about receiving a vaccine booster. Further research on methods to alleviate HCWs’ worries about emerging variants is warranted.en-USAttribution 4.0 United StatesVaccine boosterCovid-19Covid-19 delta varianttravel worryArticle