Knowledge of Covid-19 Prevention and Attitude Towards Vaccination among Health Workers in Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area, Rivers State

Abstract

This is a descriptive study that assessed the knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine and attitude towards vaccination among health workers in Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area, Rivers State. The study comprised of 148 health workers in the LGA. Self-structured questionnaire used for data collection was validated and tested for internal consistency using Crombach’s Alpha with reliability index of 0.82. Data for the study was generated through face to face administration of the instrument and analysed by descriptive and inferential statistics. Study revealed that all the health workers in Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area, Rivers State know that COVID-19 has preventive measures. Majority of them (95.3%) know that there is vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19. All those that know that there is vaccine for COVID-19 know about Astrar Zeneca Vaccine and a good number (63.5%) know about Moderna Spikevax, Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty Vaccine but lesser number (25.7%) know about Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Greater number of the health workers (66.0%) knows that the vaccine should be taken from 18 years and above. Majority of the health workers (78.0%) believe that the vaccines are effective in the prevention of COVID-19. Majority of the participants showed a positive attitude towards COVID-19 Vaccination with mean score=2.71; SD=±0.650. Study also revealed that there is a significant relationship between level of knowledge on preventive measures and attitude of health workers towards COVID-19 vaccination (t = 17.23; P < 0.5%). The researchers concluded that continuous health education on COVID-19 and its emergence must have aided the knowledge of these health workers which should be sustained. The study recommends that health workers should be retrained periodically to sustain their knowledge and improve their attitude on the subject matter.