COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Clinic in Southwest Ethiopia: Institutional-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 vaccination is a safe and effective approach to control the pandemic and to prevent its associated morbidity and mortality. To our knowledge, there is no study conducted to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among pregnant women in Ethiopia. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and its associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinic in Southwest Ethiopia.

METHODS

An institution-based cross-sectional study was employed from January 1 up to 30, 2021. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select 396 study participants. A structured and face-to-face interview was used to collect data. Data were entered into Epi-data version 4.2.0 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. P values <0.05 result were considered as a statistically significant association.

RESULTS

The COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was found to be 70.7% (95% CI, 66.7%-74.7%). Maternal age (34-41) years [AOR=1.464, (95% CI; 1.218-5.129)], primary maternal educational status [AOR=3.476, (95% CI; 1.520-7.947), good knowledge [AOR=5.946, (95% CI; 3.147-7.065)], and good practice [AOR =9.15, (95% CI; 8.734-12.189)] of pregnant women towards COVID-19 and its preventive measures were factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.

CONCLUSION

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was found to be 70.9%. Maternal age (34-41) years, primary maternal educational status, good knowledge, and good practice of pregnant women towards COVID-19 and its preventive measures were factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Health care workers should provide health education to pregnant women to increase their knowledge about the diseases and disseminate leaflets regarding COVID-19 preventive measures. Moreover, before initiation of COVID-19 vaccine administration to pregnant women they must promote the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine.