Examining confidence and hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines: A cross-sectional survey using in-person data collection in rural Ghana

OK, Afreh; Angwaawie, P.; Attivor, E.; Boateng, LA.; Brackstone, Ken; Head, Michael G; Manyeh, Alfred Kwesi; Vidzro, GAA.

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.02.024

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…According to Freeman et al [39](2022), there is evidence suggesting that hesitancy is more prevalent among those who identify as female, have lower income levels, and belong to certain ethnic groups. Adverse side effects of the vaccines [9], [13], [15], [26], [28], [30], [32], [42] 8 2 Mistrust in the vaccine [8], [32], [37], [42],[43] 5 3…”

Section: Description Of the Included Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is crucial to recognize that demographic factors such as employment status, rural or urban residency, occupation, level of experience, and political party affiliation among opposition voters were not extensively examined in the assessment of factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in Ghana (see Figure 4). [5], [8], [11], [13], [27], [34], [37], [49], [44] 9 Gender [6], [8], [11], [30], [35], [37], [42], [44] 8 Religion [8], [13], [15], [27], [34] [42], [44], [49] 8 Age [9], [11], [15], [27], [42], [49] 6 Marital Status [12], [37], [42] 3 Primary source of information about COVID-19 vaccine [11], [13], [44] 3 According to Backhaus [50], urban residency and current pregnancy were significantly and positively associated with refusing vaccination against COVID-19, whereas age, savings, and using contemporary contraceptives were significantly and negatively associated with refusing vaccination. Additional research by Hwang et al [51] indicates that younger age, lack of religious affiliation, political conservatism, and lower family income are also substantially associated with vaccine hesitancy.…”

Section: Description Of the Included Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Study approaches used. Approach Studies Frequency Quantitative [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13], [15], [26][27][28][29][30], [33][34][35][36][37], [42], [44], [45], [47], [49] 25 Qualitative [14], [31] 2 Mixed Method [32], [43], [46], [48] 4…”

Section: Description Of the Included Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy in Ghana: A Systematic Review

Akrong,

Hiadzi,

Donkor

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The propensity to accept vaccines and factors that affect vaccine acceptance and hesitancy will determine the overall success of the COVID-19 vaccination program. Therefore, it is essential for countries to understand the factors that influence vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in order to prevent further future shocks, and it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of these factors. This study, as a result, aims to review selected published works in the domain of study and conduct valuable analysis to determine the most influential factors in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in Ghana. The review also explored the acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccines in Ghana. We selected published works from 2021 to April 2023 and extracted, analyzed, and summarized the findings based on the key factors that influence COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in Ghana, the acceptance rate in Ghana, the demographic factors that are often examined, and the study approach used to examine these factors. The study found that positive vaccination perception, safety, belief in vaccine efficacy, knowledge of COVID-19, and a good vaccine attitude influence COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in Ghana. The negative side effects of the vaccines, mistrust in the vaccine, lack of confidence in the safety of the vaccines, fear, and spiritual and religious beliefs all played significant roles in the factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The demographic parameters frequently included in these studies that have a significant impact include educational attainment, gender, religious affiliation, age, and marital status.

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Section: Description Of the Included Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Description Of the Included Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy in Ghana: A Systematic Review

Akrong,

Hiadzi,

Donkor

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…A study on Ghana based on four online cross-sectional surveys conducted in August, 2020 (n = 3048), March, 2021 (n = 1558), June, 2021 (n = 1295), and February, 2022 (n = 424) sought to determine the levels of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy among unvaccinated individuals [24]. This was motivated by the rationale of Africa's ranking as the continent having the slowest vaccination rate in the world, with Ghana reporting only 27.9% (28.3% as of November 17, 2022) of the country being fully vaccinated and 37.8% receiving at least one dose as of the time of the study [25,26,27]. The notable reasons associated with vaccine hesitancy include lacking enough vaccine-related information, safety concerns, poor attitudes towards vaccination, mistrust in political actors, beliefs about not needing the vaccine, and concerns about side effects.…”

Section: Vaccine Acceptance/hesitancy Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccine Inequity: A Threat to Africa’s Recovery from COVID-19

Wei,

Kamande,

Lang'at

2023

Preprint

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Vaccine inequity is a reality facing the Sub-Saharan Africa region as vaccine nationalism from the high income countries (HICs) leads to limited access to the life saving vaccines needed to end the pandemic. In Africa, a significant portion of the population has yet to be vaccinated against Covid-19; however, the barrier to access such vaccines, including capacity challenges, still persist despite the implementation of the COVAX facility meant to support the LMICs to boost vaccination. In this systematic review, we report that vaccine nationalism remains a challenge for LMICs as the HICs still hoard the vaccines and even bypass COVAX to procure doses directly from the manufacturers. Factors that promote vaccine hesitancy in Africa include misinformation regarding the Covid-19 vaccine, a lack of trust in politicians and the pharmaceutical industry, and concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy. The policies implemented to enhance vaccine coverage in Africa, such as mandates, community engagement, and partnerships, all seek to promote equity of vaccination and ending Covid-19.

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“…Previously, our team published two vaccine hesitancy studies in Ghana, one of which took place electronically across four time points [ 11 ], and a one-off survey carried out in-person in a rural location [ 14 ]. To date, there has been little COVID-19 research focusing on Togo.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy beliefs in Togo: Findings from two cross-sectional surveys

Akinocho,

Brackstone,

Eastment

et al. 2024

PLOS Glob Public Health

Self Cite

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Togo is a low-income country in West Africa. Estimates from Our World in Data suggest that only 25% of the Togolese population have received at least one dose of any COVID-19 vaccine by June 2023. Whilst the early phase of the pandemic vaccine rollout across 2021 was dominated by higher-income countries taking much of the available supply, there have long been sufficient supplies for all nations. Thus, there remains a need to understand reasons for low uptake in countries such as Togo, here focusing on population confidence and trust, essentially characteristics that could potentially be addressed within health promotion strategies. Two cross-sectional telephone surveys of Togo residents were conducted in December 2020 and January 2022. These surveys asked questions around perceptions of COVID-19, trust in public health messaging, belief in conspiracy theories, and hesitancy around COVID-19 vaccination. Analyses here focus on unvaccinated respondents. Across Survey 1 (N = 1430) and Survey 2 (N = 212), 65% of respondents were men, and 47% lived in Lomé (capital city of Togo). Between Surveys 1 and 2, overall hesitancy (33.0% to 58.0% respectively) and beliefs in conspiracy theories (29% to 65%) significantly increased. Using logistics regression, governmental mistrust was the strongest significant predictor of hesitancy (OR: 2.90). Participants who indicated agreement or uncertainty with at least one conspiracy belief also predicted greater vaccine hesitancy (OR: 1.36). Proactive approaches to public health messaging, that better understand reasons for hesitancy across different demographics, can support uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations within Togo. This includes health promotion campaigns that use locally and nationally trusted knowledge providers (e.g. the health service or religious leaders) for greatest effectiveness at reducing impact of misinformation. Key future research should focus around knowledge gaps and areas of mistrust created by the pandemic, such as the impact of misinformation upon routine immunisation uptake.

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Examining confidence and hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines: A cross-sectional survey using in-person data collection in rural Ghana

Cited by 8 publications

References 12 publications

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy in Ghana: A Systematic Review

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy in Ghana: A Systematic Review

Vaccine Inequity: A Threat to Africa’s Recovery from COVID-19

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy beliefs in Togo: Findings from two cross-sectional surveys

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