Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of COVID-19 vaccine and refusal to receive COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare workers in northeastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Major efforts are being made to control the spread and impacts of the coronavirus pandemic using vaccines. Ethiopia began on March 13, 2021, to vaccinate healthcare workers (HCWs) for COVID-19 with the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, willingness to be vaccinated depends to a large extent on factors beyond the availability of vaccines. This study aimed to determine the rate of intention to refuse COVID-19 vaccination and associated factors among HCWs in northeastern Ethiopia. northeastern, Ethiopia. Method An institution-based cross-sectional study was employed among 404 HCWs in Dessie City, northeastern Ethiopia in May, 2021. Data were collected, checked, coded, entered into EpiData Version 4.6 and exported to Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25.0 for cleaning and analysis. The dependent variable was refuse to receive COVID-19 vaccination and the independent variables included socio-demographic factors, knowledge, attitudes and perceptions. A Binary logistic regression model was used to determine the association between vaccine refusal and the independent variables. From bivariate analysis, variables with p-values < 0.25 were retained for multivariable analysis. From multivariable analysis, variables with adjusted odds ratio (AOR), p-values <0.05 at 95% confidence interval (CI) were declared as factors significantly associated with refusal to be vaccinated among HCWs in Dessie City, northeastern Ethiopia. Results The proportion of HCWs with overall good knowledge, good perception, and positive attitudes about COVID-19 vaccination were 62.5%, 60.5%, and 52.3%, respectively; 64.0% of the HCWs wanted to be vaccinated while 36.0% said that they would refuse to do so. Multivariable analysis identified negative attitudes (AOR: 3.057; 95%CI [1.860 - 5.026]) and poor perceptions (AOR: 4.73; 95%CI [2.911 - 7.684]) about COVID-19 vaccines were significantly associated with refusal to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Nearly half (46.9%) of the HCWs stated that vaccines could worsen any pre-existing medical conditions and 39.5% of them thought that vaccines could cause COVID-19 infections. Conclusion The willingness of HCWs to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was relatively high among HCWs. Negative attitudes and poor perceptions towards the anticipated COVID-19 vaccination were significant factors to refuse to be vaccinated. Our findings may provide information for the management authorities and stakeholders to promote and improve attitudes, knowledge and perceptions towards COVID-19 vaccination uptake among HCWs.

Iraqi Parents’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices towards Vaccinating Their Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Consistent with the findings of an earlier study [ 24 ], our results revealed that stronger perceptions about the effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine for children significantly reduced parental vaccination refusal. Perceptions about COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness have also been associated with parents’ acceptance of vaccination against COVID-19 for their children in previous studies [ 10 , 11 ] and with COVID-19 vaccination acceptance in other population groups, including adults [ 41 , 42 , 43 ], university students [ 44 ], and healthcare workers [ 45 ]. This is also one of the barriers to COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in general populations and other subgroups [ 42 ].…”

“…The perceived safety of COVID-19 vaccines affected parents’ decisions about vaccinating their children in the current study, which was consistent with what has been reported in Korean [ 38 ], and Jordanian populations [ 24 ]. Earlier studies found that hesitancy was largely due to safety concerns [ 36 , 45 ]. Although the majority of the parents who participated in a Brazilian study were willing to accept COVID-19 immunization for their children, more than half were concerned about serious side effects of COVID-19 vaccines and one third were concerned about their safety [ 8 ].…”

Willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and associated factors among residents of Southwestern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

“… 16 Refusal to be vaccinated was largely due to negative impressions of the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine. 13 , 48 As strength, the study was conducted in rural areas of low resource settings where lack of adequate health service and the predictors of willingness to receive vaccines were identified. As a limitation, social desirability bias in which residents answered questions in a manner that would be viewed favorably by others may have resulted in over-reporting of good perception as well as intended to receive the vaccines.…”

COVID-19 Vaccination: An Exploratory Study of the Motivations and Concerns Detailed in the Medical Records of a Regional Australian Population

“…Even among some participants who demonstrated knowledge of this information, a high degree of concern related to their risk of TTS was still expressed, which may reflect an overestimation of a low-probability outcome in risk perception [ 34 ]. Moreover, although several studies have found a correlation between increased knowledge of COVID-19 with increased vaccine acceptability [ 37 , 38 ], one study in 605 Bangladeshi adults found that although greater COVID-19 vaccine knowledge was associated with overall vaccine intention, it was not significantly correlated with immediate vaccine uptake in the case of the COVID-19 vaccination [ 35 ]. The perceived severity of TTS also played an important role in individual risk perception.…”