Knowledge, Perception and Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccination Amongst Pregnant Women in Adena, Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is associated with poor pregnancy and maternal outcomes. COVID-19 vaccination is recommended all over the world, yet the vaccination rate during pregnancy in Nigeria is insignificant. The public health response to the global COVID-19 pandemic varies widely in different regions of Nigeria. Aim: To investigate the knowledge, perception and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination amongst pregnant women in Adena, Kwara State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Sample size of this study consisted of two hundred and thirty (230) respondents. Data including biodata and questions relating to the aim of the study were retrieved using a structured questionnaire. These data were analyzed using the Chi-square technique (χ 2 ) of the SPSS version 23 statistical software. Chi-square tests were used for comparative analysis of the demographic information to perception and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination amongst pregnant women, and to test the research hypotheses at a level of significance set at p<0.05. Results: Mean age of the respondents (pregnant women) was 29.3±6.14 years and the mean parity was 2.3±1.6. 68.7% (n=158) of the women had a tertiary education. 40.9% (94) and 59.1% (136) of the respondents were Christians and Muslims respectively. 73.44% of the respondents had good knowledge about COVID-19 and 57.8% confirmed that they would accept the vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. From the research hypotheses tested, this study found that there was a significant difference in the perception of the pregnant women in Adena to COVID-19 vaccination based on their educational qualification (p=1.56624E-20) and age (p=8.53956E-18), but no significant difference was noticed based on their religion (p=0.05). There was a significant difference in the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination amongst the pregnant women based on their educational qualification (p=3.22221E-11) and age (p=0.001473), but no significant difference was observed based on their religion (p=0.23). Conclusion: The general public needs to be sensitized on COVID-19 and any related pandemic at every gathering, e.g., churches, mosques, hospitals, etc. Health systems need to develop national surveillance systems to collect up-to-date clinical, virological, and epidemiological information on trends in human infection with seasonal influenza viruses. Health systems are also advised to keep up-to-date on the latest information concerning pandemics from trusted global sources e.g. World Health Organization (WHO), national sources e.g. Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).