Commentary on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in sub-Saharan Africa

Kabakama, Severin; Konje, Eveline; Dinga, Jerome Nyhalah; Kishamawe, Colman; Morhason-Bello, Imran O.; Hayombe, Peter; Adeyemi, Olufela; Chimuka, Ernest; Lumu, Ivan; Amuasi, John; Acheampong, Theophilus; Dzinamarira, Tafadzwa

doi:10.3390/tropicalmed7070130

Cited by 38 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…This points to the need to educate females regarding the need for vaccines. Furthermore, religious influence in vaccination has been observed since Christians have a higher likelihood of taking the vaccine, which is in congruence with a review of 12 Sub-Saharan African countries, including Ghana, which also stated that vaccine hesitancy has been due to religious beliefs, which could be overcome through communication strategies by addressing the concerns of community [31]. We observed that there were higher odds of taking the first shot of the vaccine among participants with three years of experience, which is consistent with the findings of a study that reported that occupation influenced the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine in Ghana [32].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Predictors of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Uptake among Health Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Study in Ghana

et al. 2023

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COV-2 SARs has disproportionately affected low- and middle-income countries such as Ghana, where the healthcare system was not prepared enough to provide care, drugs, and equipment. This study was carried out to assess predictors of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among health professionals in the Bono region of Ghana. A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 424 health professionals recruited through simple random sampling. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were utilized to identify the predictors of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance presented as an odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). All respondents had heard about the COVID-19 vaccine. The most common source of information was the media (45.8%). The proportion of health professionals who accepted the COVID-19 vaccine was 73.6%. Among those who did not take the vaccine, 64.3% were willing to take it in the future. The key predictors of taking the COVID-19 vaccine included: age 25 to 45 years (AOR = 1.96, 95% CI: 1.14–3.35), age older than 45 years (AOR = 5.30, 95% CI: 2.59–10.87), males (AOR = 4.09, 95% CI: 2.34–7.15), Christians (AOR = 3.10, 95% CI: 1.44–7.72), and at least three years of experience (AOR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.033–2.93). Reasons for not taking vaccines included: vaccines were rapidly developed and approved (41.0%), immediate side effects (39.2%), and unforeseen future effects (37.5%). This study showed that most participants had received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccination, and most of those hesitant about the vaccine were willing to receive it in the future. This is a positive finding for policy makers since it reflects that fewer resources will be needed for behavioural change initiatives. In addition, it would present a chance to focus on minority individuals who are unwilling to take the vaccine and offer targeted community mobilisation.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Predictors of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Uptake among Health Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Study in Ghana

et al. 2023

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“…We observed that Kweneng district with negative sentiment hotspot is predominantly Christians and the second highest populated district. This could also suggest that religion may have played a major role in influencing citizens' sentiments against vaccination, given that a lot of religious leaders were against the vaccine mandate at that time [10]. Further, the combination of all the locations identified with neutral sentiment hotspots and the Kweneng district identified with the negative sentiment hotspot amounted to about 35% of the countries total population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, some conspiracy theorists had rumoured that the COVID-19 vaccination mandate is targeted to depopulate Africa. While some religious leaders and influencers advised their followers against taking the COVID-19 vaccines [3], [10]. Others took to legal action against the compulsory vaccination of citizens, they argued that it is against the citizens' fundamental human right [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccine Hesitancy Hotspots in Africa: An Insight from Geotagged Twitter Posts

Ogbuokiri¹,

Ahmadi²,

Nia³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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In this research, we collected 70,000 COVID–19 vaccine-related geotagged Twitter posts from nine African countries. The duration is from December 2020 to February 2022. We used VADER to classify the tweets into three sentiment classes (positive, negative, and neutral). The outputs were validated using machine learning classification algorithms, including, Naive Bayes, Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machines, Decision Tree, and K-Nearest Neighbour. We identified hotspots by clustering the sentiment of these tweets using the point-based location technique. These hotspots were visualised on the map using ArcGIS Online. On the map, we used green to represent positive sentiment dominance, red to represent negative sentiment dominance, and grey to represent neutral sentiment dominance. The outcome of this research shows that social media data can be used to complement existing data in identifying hotspots during future outbreaks, especially in the areas where there is little or no available data. It can also be used to inform health policy in managing vaccine hesitancy.

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“…In view of the findings from this study, however, much needs to be done at better educate the population on subjects relating to the Covid-19 vaccines. In addition, with the protracted history of vaccine hesitancy in Northern Nigeria [19,20], and the gross disconnect between political leaders and the citizens, the Government of Nigeria needs to do more in a bid to ease this strained relationship between the leaderships and their followers. Neglecting the place of trust in governance could also account for vaccine apathy as currently being witnessed with the Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in Northern Nigeria [21].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Northern Nigeria

Adeniyi¹

2022

TIJAR

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The rapid development of the Covid-19 vaccine candidates through new and improved technologies and the rapidity with which these vaccine candidates were trialed and approved for public administration was highly commendable. However, the rapid administration of the Covid-19 vaccines raises a lot of concern among various world populations. This concern, relating directly to the safety and intents of the big pharmaceutical companies and governments, has led to the greatest form of health promotion initiative resistance in recorded human history. The universal level of hesitancy against the Covid-19 vaccines is now a subject of major concern among public health experts. This study which seeks to identify factors fostering Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy was conducted among the COVID-19 vaccine hesitant populations in Northern Nigeria. Findings from this study indicate that 84% of the study population makes use of the internet and other social media platforms for their news information sources. 42% of the study population would follow the guidance of their healthcare workers on issues relating to the Covid-19 vaccines. Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in Northern Nigeria is largely fostered by a lack of appropriate information and a huge knowledge gap about the Covid-19 vaccines. It is, therefore, imperative that Government engages the young people of Northern Nigeria as critical stakeholders in the fight against Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy. Proper and tailored health educational programs, and meaningful engagements of religious leaders, parents, and healthcare workers in health promotion activities can help overcome the current challenge of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in Northern Nigeria. Keywords: Covid-19, Healthcare Workers, Immunization, Vaccine, Northern Nigeria, Vaccine Hesitancy.

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Commentary on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 38 publications

References 9 publications

Predictors of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Uptake among Health Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Study in Ghana

Predictors of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Uptake among Health Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Study in Ghana

Vaccine Hesitancy Hotspots in Africa: An Insight from Geotagged Twitter Posts

Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Northern Nigeria

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