The Coverage and Acceptance Spectrum of COVID-19 Vaccines among Healthcare Professionals in Western Tanzania: What Can We Learn from This Pandemic?

Abstract

The vaccination rate against COVID-19 remains low in developing countries due to vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy is a public health threat in curbing COVID-19 pandemic globally. Healthcare professionals have been found to play a critical role in vaccine advocacy and promotion campaigns in the general population. A cross sectional study was conducted in the initial months of the COVID-19 vaccination roll out program in Tanzania to determine the acceptance rate, perceived barriers, and cues for actions. A total of 811 healthcare professionals participated from 26 health facilities in western Tanzania. The World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine acceptance questionnaire was adopted with minor modifications to capture the local contexts and used in data collection. Only (18.5%) healthcare professionals had received a COVID-19 vaccine and acceptance rate was 29%. The majority (62%) of participants were in the hesitancy stage due to issues related to lack of effective communication and reliable information regarding efficacy and safety. In this era of COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to engage and involve public health figures and opinion leaders through transparent dialogue to clarify vaccine-related safety, quality, and efficacy. These strategies will reduce misconception, mistrust, and improve uptake among healthcare professionals and eventually in the general population.

Vaccination willingness, vaccine hesitancy, and estimated coverage of SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccine among healthcare workers in Tanzania: A call for action

“…40 This delay was primarily due to challenges in overcoming vaccine hesitancy, which had been exacerbated by the previous administration's antivaccination stance. 8 Moreover, the data collection period of this study spanned from October to November 2022, during which time vaccination coverage in Tanzania remained relatively low, with 44.8% of individuals fully vaccinated. 41 Nurses in Tanzania were more vaccinated than doctors and other HCWs.…”

“…In addition, the knowledge can further help in other vaccinepreventable diseases. 8 The reasons for vaccine hesitancy among HCWs are multifaceted and depend on various factors, such as context, time, location, and vaccine type of vaccine. 9 Therefore, it is crucial to consider obstacles to vaccination unique to specific settings and subgroups of the HCWs.…”

COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake and Associated Factors in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from a Community-Based Survey in Tanzania

“…Tanzania, contrary to other East African countries, introduced the COVID-19 vaccines late [ 5 , 11 , 12 ]. Due to differing political responses, the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines in Tanzania was met with intense debates on different platforms (social media and other media channels) on its usefulness and safety [ 5 , 11 , 13 ].…”

“…Due to differing political responses, the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines in Tanzania was met with intense debates on different platforms (social media and other media channels) on its usefulness and safety [ 5 , 11 , 13 ]. Myths and misconceptions and fear of the negative effects were widely shared, fueled by the initial denial from some religious and political leaders, hence there was increased vaccine hesitancy [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. In addition, vaccine uptake and hesitancy have also been associated with social-demographic characteristics such as age (low uptake in young people), sex (low uptake among females), perceived risk of infection, low education level, low socio-economic status, negative attitudes towards vaccines, among other factors [ 2 , 3 , 8 , 11 , 13 , 15 , 16 ].…”

Whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolates from symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals in Tanzania

“…The country encountered several waves of COVID-19 pandemic and as of 25 November 2022, confirmed cases of COVID-19 were 40,471 with 845 (∼2%) cumulative deaths ( 3 ). The country joined the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) initiative program in the mid of 2021 with limited knowledge of the molecular epidemiology of COVID-19 ( 5 ). COVID-19 vaccine is an effective means of containing the COVID-19 pandemic, however, antigenic drift particularly at the antigenic epitope and receptor binding sites may interfere with the compatibility of vaccine and field strains ( 6 ).…”