University students occupy a strategic position in the spread of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) as they regularly travel around different locations with differing prevalence of the disease. This study was carried out to evaluate the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines among university staffs and students in Southeastern universities of Nigeria. Self-administered anonymous online survey was conducted between 28th February and 30th June 2021, using various online social media handles. A total of 769 students and staff members participated in the study. Descriptive statistics for socio-demographics and other parameters were performed. The relationships between tested parameters were ascertained using bivariate Pearson’s correlation. Multiple linear regression analyses were done to determine associations. All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS statistics 23 and P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant at 95% CI. The respondents were 48.1% female and 51.9% male with a mean age of 24.4 years. The acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccine was 25.6% and 82.2% of participants expressed concern about the side effects of the vaccine. While the age, gender and states of respondents were positively associated, their faculties were negatively associated with risk perception of COVID-19 vaccine. Also, the various faculties, university affiliations (P = 0.029), and age (P = 0.023) of the respondents were negatively associated, while the State of the respondents (P = 0.01) was positively associated with attitudes towards general COVID-19 vaccination. There is need for more robust information and better dissemination of such among the public to boost their confidence in COVID-19 vaccination.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are regarded as role models regarding health-related issues, including vaccination. Therefore, it is essential to identify the predictors for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among them. A cross-sectional study to assess the risk perception, attitudes and knowledge of HCWs toward COVID-19 vaccination was carried out. A total of 710 responses were received between September 2021 and March 2022, from HCWs in the Northern, Western and Eastern regions of Nigeria. Cross tabulations were performed to determine statistical relations between sociodemographic variables, knowledge, attitudes and risk perceptions concerning COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the predictive variables for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Statistical analyses were performed and P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant at a CI of 95%. Results showed that 59.3% of the participants were amenable to COVID-19 vaccines. Multinomial regression analysis identified 14 variables at α < 0.05 as predictors for vaccine acceptance. Male HCWs were 2.8 times more likely to accept the vaccine than their female counterparts. HCWs that were knowledgeable of the different kinds of vaccines, were willing to recommend the vaccines to their patients, believed that the timing of COVID-19 vaccination was appropriate and had recent vaccination history within three years were 1.6, 24.9, 4.4 and 3.1 times more likely to take COVID-19 vaccine than those not sure. The study found a relatively high trust (51.3%) in the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) for information regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, the NDCD should disseminate more robust insights regarding the safety profiles of various COVID-19 vaccines.

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Healthcare workers (HCWs) are regarded as role models regarding health-related issues including vaccination. Therefore, it is essential to identify the predictors for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among them. A cross-sectional study to assess the risk perception, attitudes and knowledge of HCWs toward COVID-19 vaccination was carried out. A total of 710 responses were received between September 2021 to March 2022, from HCWs in the Northern, Western and Eastern regions of Nigeria. Cross tabulations were performed to determine statistical relations between sociodemographic variables, knowledge, attitudes and risk perceptions concerning COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Multinomial Logistic Regression analysis was performed to determine the predictive variables for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Statistical analyses were performed and P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant at a CI of 95%. Results showed that 59.3% of the participants were amenable to COVID-19 vaccines. Multinomial regression analysis identified 14 variables at &alpha; &lt;0.05 as predictors for vaccine acceptance. Male HCWs were 2.8 times more likely to accept the vaccine than their female counterparts. HCWs that were knowledgeable of the different kinds of vaccines, willing to recommend the vaccines to their patients, believe that the timing of COVID-19 vaccination was appropriate and had recent vaccination history within three years were 1.6, 24.9, 4.4 and 3.1 times more likely to take COVID-19 vaccine than those not sure. The study found a relatively high trust (51.3%) in the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) for information regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, the NDCD should disseminate more robust insights regarding the safety profiles of various COVID-19 vaccines.

Widespread COVID–19 vaccination is essential to maintaining pandemic control. However, low–and lower–middle–income countries (LMICs) continue to face challenges to care due to unequal access and vaccine fear despite the introduction of safe and effective immunisations. This study aimed to collect information on Nigeria's COVID–19 vaccine uptake rates and determinants. Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar, African Journal Online, Springer, and Hinari were all systematically searched through and completed in May 2022. Quality assessments of the listed studies were performed using the eight–item Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tools for cross–sectional studies. In addition, we undertook a meta-analysis to calculate pooled acceptance rates with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Forty–two studies in total satisfied the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. A total of 24,533 respondents were studied. The total sample size of states in the Northern, Western and Southern parts of Nigeria are 3,206, 4,527 and 5,059, respectively, while 11,741 is the cumulative sample size of all the Nigeria-wide studies. The total COVID–19 vaccination acceptance rate among all the study groups was 52.4% (95% CI: 46.9–57.9%, I2 = 100%), while the total estimated COVID–19 vaccination hesitancy rates was 47.81% (95% CI: 42.2 – 53.4% I2 = 100%). In Nigeria–regions sub–group analyses, the Western region (58.90%, 95% CI: 47.12–70.27%) and Northern region (54.9%, 95% CI: 40.11%–69.4%) showed the highest rates of vaccine acceptance and vaccine hesitancy respectively. The COVID–19 vaccine acceptance rate was highest in 2020, with a pooled rate of 59.56% (46.34, 57.32%, I2 = 98.7%). The acceptance rate in 2021 was only 48.48 (40.78%, 56.22%), while for the studies in 2022, it increased to 52.04% (95% CI: 35.7%, 68.15 %). The sensitisation of local authorities and the dissemination of more detailed information about the COVID–19 vaccine and its safety, could significantly increase the country's vaccination rate.

Since the explosion of pneumonia-like symptoms in the province of Hubei, Wuhan in December 2019 over 200 countries have gotten a share of this disease caused by the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Till date, there exists no modest therapeutic agent to combat this virus. Antibodies in the breast milk of convalescent lactating mothers could be the silver bullet that would deflate the ballooning morbidity and mortality rate caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Coupled with the fact that breast milk contains a very high amount of Immunoglobulin A which has a desirable higher in vivo stability than other antibodies. This novel approach of purifying antibodies from the breast milk of convalescent lactating mothers is a non-invasive technique relative to the conventional method of using convalescent plasma which had proven effective for generating passive immunity against the seasonal flu. Purified Immunoglobulins would be obtained by adding an equal volume of ammonium sulphate solution to the breast milk sample to induce a lyotropic effect and thereafter passing the partially purified solution through a column chromatographic system impregnated with a Jaclin –lectin, Protein A, L and G. Neutralizing antibodies would by assayed using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay technique. Various statistical tools will be used to analyze a double-blinded randomized clinical trials to ascertain the efficacy of the purified antibodies as it is expected to have clear cut effectiveness over the control and potentially become the invaluable in containing the pandemic.

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