Abstract
BackgroundOn the account of limited doses of COVID-19 available to the country, the Government of Ghana created a priority list of persons to target for its vaccination agenda. In this paper, we look at trust and how it informs willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine among persons targeted for the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination program in Ghana.MethodsA sequential mixed-method investigation was conducted among the priority population - persons 60 years and above, frontline government functionaries, health workers, persons with underlying health conditions and, religious leaders and teachers. We sampled 415 respondents from the target population for a survey and 15 religious and traditional leaders from three cities; Accra, Cape Coast and Tamale for follow-up in-depth interviews based on the results of the survey data. Quantitative data is presented with descriptive proportions and multinomial logistic regression and thematic approach is applied to the interview data.ResultsTrust and willingness to take the vaccine are high in this priority population. Trust in the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, rather than socioeconomic characteristics of respondents better predicted acceptance. From interview narratives, mistrust in political actors - both local and foreign, believe in superior protection of God and seeming misunderstanding of vaccine development processes countermand acceptance. On the other hand, the professional influence of people in one’s social networks, and past triumphs of vaccination programmes against concerning childhood diseases embed trust and acceptance.ConclusionsAttention ought to be given to trust enhancing triggers while strategic communication approaches are used to remove triggers of mistrust.
Highlights
On the account of limited doses of COVID-19 available to the country, the Government of Ghana cre‐ ated a priority list of persons to target for its vaccination agenda
Age shows a significant association with level of trust, with the highest proportion of trust observed among respondents 50–59 years (~ 58%) and those 60 years and above (57%)
Among the categories of people targeted for vaccination in the first phase, the highest share of respondents who have no trust in the vaccine were religious leaders (42%)
Summary
On the account of limited doses of COVID-19 available to the country, the Government of Ghana cre‐ ated a priority list of persons to target for its vaccination agenda. While accepting vaccines is considered an individual responsibility, it is a right, which individuals and communities need to appreciate and demand immunization services [3]. Prior research identifies trust as an important concern/ attribute of vaccine hesitancy [4, 5].Trust in the context of vaccine uptake represents a relationship that exists between individuals, as well as between individuals and a system, in which one party accepts a vulnerable position, assuming the best interests and competence of the other, in exchange for a reduction in decision complexity [6]. Whereas the record time development of different vaccines are celebrated, there are widespread conspiracies around the emergence of COVID-19 and this continues to share attitudes towards and acceptance of the vaccine [7], regardless of the preponderance of evidence that affirm the potency of all vaccines currently in use [8, 9]
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