Document Type
Article
Abstract
Objectives:
A significant percentage of the population must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. Therefore the success of a vaccination program relies on the level of acceptance. This present study seeks to understand COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in Nigeria by assessing the public's willingness to get vaccinated.
Study design:
This is a population-based cross-sectional study. Data were derived through a structured online survey.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among adult residents in Nigeria in March 2021 using a structured online questionnaire. The questionnaire surveyed participants' demographic characteristics and perception of COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccine. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics using Chi-square, as well as univariable logistic regression to determine the factors associated with acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine was conducted.
Results:
Of the 618 respondents, 272 (44%) reported being willing to get vaccinated. Interestingly, of the 346 (56%) respondents that would not take the COVID-19 vaccine, the highest marginal reasons for non-acceptance were lack of trust in the government 163 (47.1%), followed by the belief that the vaccine is not safe 67 (19.4%), and no enough information about the vaccine 49 (13.6%). In addition, male respondents and those with a university degree or above were statistically significantly more likely to accept a COVID-19 vaccine.
Conclusion:
A considerable proportion of the study population is unwilling to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This observation highlights the need for the government, public health officials, and advocacy groups to implement immediate awareness-raising measures to sway the public towards COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Published in AIMS Medical Science, Volume 9, Issue 2, 2022, pages 268-282.
© 2022 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
APA Citation
Ekwebelem, O. C., Onyeaka, H., Yunusa, I., Miri, T., Onwuneme, Y. M., Eunice, A. T., Anyogu, A., Obi, B., & Carol, N. A. (2022). Do we trust the government? attributes of covid-19 vaccine hesitancy and acceptance in Nigeria. AIMS Medical Science, 9(2), 268–282. https://doi.org/10.3934/medsci.2022010
Rights
© 2022 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)