Abstract
Students of the health sciences are the future frontliners to fight pandemics. The students’ participation in COVID-19 response varies across countries and are mostly for educational purposes. Understanding the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptability is necessary for a successful vaccination program. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among health sciences students in Northwest Nigeria. The study was an online self-administered cross-sectional study involving a survey among students of health sciences in some selected universities in Northwest Nigeria. The survey collected pertinent data from the students, including socio-demographic characteristics, risk perception for COVID-19, and willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. A total of 440 responses with a median (interquartile range) age of 23 (4.0) years were included in the study. The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was 40.0%. Factors that independently predict acceptance of the vaccine were age of 25 years and above (adjusted odds ratio, aOR, 2.72; 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.44–5.16; p = 0.002), instructions from heads of institutions (aOR, 11.71; 95% CI, 5.91–23.20; p<0.001), trust in the government (aOR, 20.52; 95% CI, 8.18–51.51; p<0.001) and willingness to pay for the vaccine (aOR, 7.92; 95% CI, 2.63–23.85; p<0.001). The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among students of health sciences was low. Older age, mandate by heads of the institution, trust in the government and readiness to pay for the vaccine were associated with acceptance of the vaccine. Therefore, stakeholders should prioritize strategies that would maximize the vaccination uptake.
Highlights
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has become a major public health problem since the initial outbreak in Hubei, Wuhan, China [1]
The multivariable analyses revealed that age of 25 years and above, accepting to take COVID-19 vaccine if directed by heads of the institution, trust in the government regarding the vaccine, and willingness to pay for the vaccine if not free were independently associated with COVID-19
Our study identified the baseline prevalence of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines among the students of health sciences in Northwest Nigeria to be low
Summary
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has become a major public health problem since the initial outbreak in Hubei, Wuhan, China [1]. The pandemic has significantly impacted health systems and economies globally [2,3,4]. The pandemic is one of the fatal outbreaks due to a coronavirus, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 [5] and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012 [6]. Following the sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, there has been rapid development of COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Since vaccination coverage is a defining factor for successful herds immunity, there is a need to explore the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake that could guide effective vaccination strategies
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