The impact of information sources on COVID-19 Vaccine hesitancy and resistance in Sub- Saharan Africa

Abstract

Background Vaccination remains the most powerful weapon against the emergence of new variants of coronavirus (COVID-19). However, false information about COVID-19 vaccines through various platforms including social media remain a major threat to global public health. The study examined the impact of information sources on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Methods A validated web-based questionnaire was administered in French and English to 2572 participants from sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries including Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, who were aged 18 years and over. An e-link to the survey was disseminated via emails and posted on social media platforms (Facebook and WhatsApp). The COVID-19 vaccination status (vaccinated, hesitancy and resistance) and their association with sources of information (mainstream media and social media) were assessed by conducting multinomial logistic regression analyses. Results The prevalence of vaccine resistance and hesitancy in SSA was higher among social media users (72.2 and 84.5%) and those that watched TV (73.0 and 79.7%), but lower among newspaper readers (42.5 and 36.7%) respectively, during the pandemic. Multivariate analysis revealed that Southern and Central African respondents were more likely rely on TV for information, women and those who smoke were more likely to rely on friends and family members for information during the pandemic. Lower education (primary education or less) was associated with lower likelihood of social media use for COVID-19 related information compared with postgraduate qualification (aOR 0.36, 95%CI 0.20, 0.62). Resistance to COVID-19 vaccination was associated with reliance families and friends (aOR 1.44, 95%CI = 1.08, 1.93), watching TV (aOR 1.54, 95%CI = 1.11, 2.14) and social media use (adjusted odds ratio aOR 2.93, 95%CI = 2.10, 4.09), which was also associated with vaccine hesitancy (aOR 1.46, 95%CI = 1.15, 1.85) among the respondents. Conclusions Our study showed that reliance on social media and television had the strongest impact on vaccine hesitancy. However, further research and investments are needed to improve the availability of reliable healthcare information in these channels to protect people and empower them to make appropriate choices about their health.

A pre-post evaluation study of a social media-based COVID-19 communication campaign to improve attitudes and behaviors toward COVID-19 vaccination in Tanzania

“…In addition, a plethora of studies across the globe have shown that the use of social media is strongly associated with increased COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy [35][36][37]. Our findings are in line with previous research and highlight the challenges of improving COVID-19 vaccine uptake on the African continent against this background [5][6][7].…”

“…The delayed roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines in African countries has left the population vulnerable to new surges in infections by COVID-19 variants throughout the pandemic. The situation has been further exacerbated by prevalent vaccine hesitancy and lack of confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, mainly fueled by exposure to inundating misinformation on COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines through online and other sources [5][6][7], against an already concerning backdrop of overall hesitancy toward new vaccines in Africa [8].…”

“…A year later in June 2022, the percentage of the Tanzanian population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 was, however, only 7.3% [14]. Two of the identified barriers against COVID-19 vaccine roll-out were a high prevalence of misinformation and lack of accurate information on COVID-19 vaccines and the widespread apathy toward COVID-19 in the country [7,15,16]. On the other hand, as of 2021, roughly 50% of the Tanzanian population had access to the Internet, which was higher than the average internet penetration rate of 42% in African countries [17].…”

Fertility decision of Iranian women during the COVID-19 pandemic and home quarantine: A cross-sectional study in Iran

“…The reason for this discrepancy may be due to the fact that COVID-19 virus in sub-Saharan Africa may not be regarded as dangerous as it is in other countries. For example, a study by Osuagwu et al (2022) showed that 72.2 and 84.5% of sub-Saharan people were resistant to or hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination, respectively.…”

Impacto Causado por el Covid-19 en Diversas Variables Sociales a Nivel Mundial

“…Parte de los resultados obtenidos en la investigación desarrollada a una muestra de 219 personas en el departamento de Córdoba, Colombia, muestra un impacto significativo en algunas variables sociales analizadas, las siguientes son las preguntas relacionadas con factores como ansiedad, depresión, relaciones personales, vida social y salud mental, donde podemos ver el grado de impacto que ocasionó el Covid-19 en la vida de los habitantes de esta región del caribe Colombiano; en el gráfico 1 y 2 vemos que los niveles de ansiedad y depresión han incrementado sustancialmente en 65.3% y 48.9% pág. 1178 respectivamente, lo que refleja que más de la mitad de la población está padeciendo estos trastornos producto de la pandemia y sus secuelas, estos resultados se relacionan con información encontrada en otros continentes como África en donde se evidenció altos niveles de estrés en la población estudiada, en este caso producto de las informaciones que recibían en diferentes medios de comunicación sobre lo que estaba pasando con la pandemia (Osuagwu et al, 2023).…”