Table 5.

Correlation between participants' perceptions about vaccines, universal masking and social distancing to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant.

Variable	Vaccines effectiveness a	Universal masking effectiveness b	Social distancing effectiveness c	COVID-19 vaccine mandate j
Universal masking d	0.707**
Social distancing effectiveness e	0.675**	0.889**
Avoiding unnecessary international travel f	0.603**	0.755**	0.794**
Omicron variant potential/new COVID-19 pandemic g	−0.002	0.011	0.017
Omicron variant potential/COVID-19 wave h	0.005	−0.015	0.000
Omicron variant potential/lockdown I	0.010	0.027	0.051
COVID-19 vaccine mandate j	0.179**	0.117**	0.113**
Mean worry level in relation to international travel	0.102**	0.134**	0.157**
Mean worry level in relation to original variant	0.069*	0.091**	0.111**	0.139**
Mean worry level in relation to Alpha variant	0.065*	0.075**	0.098**	0.148**
Mean in relation to level from Delta variant	0.069*	0.109**	0.124**	0.114**
Participants' mean worry level in relation to the Omicron variant	0.082**	0.103**	0.132**	0.114**
Self-rated familiarity with Omicron variant	0.090**	0.055*	0.069*	0.167**
Self-rated familiarity with the Delta variant	0.094**	0.062*	0.066*	0.142**

^aVaccines are still the most effective way to prevent the spread of Omicron and other future variants.

^bUniversal masking is still effective in preventing variant spread.

^cSocial distancing is still effective in preventing variant spread.

^dParticipants' agreement level with universal masking still being effective in preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

^eParticipants' agreement level with the effectiveness of social distancing to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

^fParticipants' agreement level with the effectiveness of avoiding unnecessary international travel to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

^gParticipants' agreement level with the potential of the Omicron variant to cause a new COVID-19 pandemic wave worldwide.

^hParticipants' agreement level with the potential of the Omicron variant to cause another COVID-19 wave in Saudi Arabia.

^IParticipants' agreement level with the potential of the Omicron variant to cause second lockdown.

^jParticipants' agreement level with COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

^**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

^*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). Correlation (r) coefficients <0.10 are considered non-significant or are weak even if their p < 0.050.