Factors influencing hesitancy towards adult and child COVID-19 vaccines in rural and urban West Africa: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study aims: (1) to identify and describe similarities and differences in both adult and child COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and (2) to examine sociodemographic, perception-related and behavioural factors influencing vaccine hesitancy across five West African countries.DesignCross-sectional survey carried out between 5 May and 5 June 2021.Participants and setting4198 individuals from urban and rural settings in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone participated in the survey.Study registrationThe general protocol is registered on clinicaltrial.gov.ResultsFindings show that in West Africa at the time only 53% of all study participants reported to be aware of COVID-19 vaccines, and television (60%, n=1345), radio (56%; n=1258), social media (34%; n=764) and family/friends/neighbours (28%; n=634) being the most important sources of information about COVID-19 vaccines. Adult COVID-19 vaccine acceptance ranges from 60% in Guinea and 50% in Sierra Leone to 11% in Senegal. This is largely congruent with acceptance levels of COVID-19 vaccinations for children. Multivariable regression analysis shows that perceived effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines increased the willingness to get vaccinated. However, sociodemographic factors, such as sex, rural/urban residence, educational attainment and household composition (living with children and/or elderly), and the other perception parameters were not associated with the willingness to get vaccinated in the multivariable regression model.ConclusionsPrimary sources of information about COVID-19 vaccines include television, radio and social media. Communication strategies addressed at the adult population using mass and social media, which emphasise COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and safety, could encourage greater acceptance also of COVID-19 child vaccinations in sub-Saharan countries.Trial registration numberNCT04912284.

Predictors of COVID-19 Stress and COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance among Adolescents in Ghana

“…Previous studies have also emphasized the usefulness of accurate information and education for COVID-19 vaccination [34,56,58]. Among countries in the West African region, it was revealed that knowing the effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines increased the willingness to vaccinate among adults [67]. Moreover, danger and contamination fears as a subscale of COVID-19 stress influenced adolescents' willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine.…”

“…Factors influencing COVID-19 vaccinations seem to be wide and varied, from external factors such as the culture, political governance, gross domestic product, and inter-country relationships [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] to internal or personal factors such as age, sex, educational levels, profession, and lifestyle behaviours [53,54,[56][57][58]61,62]. For instance, previous studies have reported sex differences in COVID-19 attitudes and behaviours [63,64], leading to sex differences in COVID-19 infection [65], although other studies revealed contradictory findings on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance [61,66,67]. Due to the varied nature of the factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination acceptance, it may be necessary that countries examine the specific factors influencing their citizens' COVID-19 vaccination acceptance as well as different age groups, such as adolescents.…”

Education level modifies parental hesitancy about COVID-19 vaccinations for their children

“…Lack of knowledge about vaccine effectiveness is one of the most common reasons for parents in Shanghai, China to refuse COVID-19 vaccination [35] . Vaccine effectiveness and safety have been reported to be important factors predicting parental COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy or vaccine willingness in children under 18 years of age [21] , [36] , [37] , [38] , and here, we provide evidence about parental attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine for their children aged 6-12.…”

Factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Nigerians: evidence from a national survey

“…This is consistent with the earlier ndings of Faye and colleagues across some west African counties where they reported that important information sources were family and friends and media. [25] Our study reported that respondents who received COVID-19 vaccines information from health workers, government sources and media had signi cantly higher odds of being vaccinated. This may suggest that these three information sources were probably the most trusted among the available information sources by the citizenry.…”