Publication:

Predictors of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine among patients at a tertiary hospital in South-South Nigeria

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was said to have emerged from a livestock market in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The objective of this study was to determine the predictors and willingness of patients to accept the COVID-19 vaccine.

Methods This survey was carried out at the federal medical centre, Yenagoa between 4t January and 15 February 2021. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population consisted of 1,000 consecutive patients that presented to the various out-patients departments of the hospital. Written informed consent was obtained. Data collected with a predesigned questionnaire were analysed using statistical software (SPSS for windows® version 23, SPSS Inc, Chicago, USA).

Results Out of 1,000 participants, only 246 (24.6%) were willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. About 2 in every 5 participants were unwilling to take the vaccine due to trust issues. Lack of trust in the manufacturers and government were the reasons given by 43.4% and 41.8% of participants, respectively. All sociodemographic factors were significant predictors of willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine. The male participants (OR=2.34; p=001) were 2 times more willing than women to receive COVID-19 vaccine.

Conclusions The willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccine is low here. The highest predictor of willingness to accept the vaccine was the male gender and this is quite significant in our environment where decision-making in the family lies mostly on the man.