Clinical Research Centre, College of Health, Agriculture & Natural Science, Africa University, Mutare, Zimbabwe.
Department of Health Policy & Management, College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2022 Apr 21;17(4):e0266724. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266724. eCollection 2022.
As a way of minimising the devastating effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, scientists hastily developed a vaccine. However, the scale-up of the vaccine is likely to be hindered by the widespread social media misinformation. We therefore conducted a study to assess the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Zimbabweans.
We conducted a descriptive online cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire among adults. The questionnaire assessed willingness to be vaccinated; socio-demographic characteristics, individual attitudes and perceptions, effectiveness and safety of the vaccine. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was utilized to examine the independent factors associated with vaccine uptake.
We analysed data for 1168 participants, age range of 19-89 years with the majority being females (57.5%). Half (49.9%) of the participants reported that they would accept the COVID-19 vaccine. Majority were uncertain about the effectiveness of the vaccine (76.0%) and its safety (55.0%). About half lacked trust in the government's ability to ensure availability of an effective vaccine and 61.0% mentioned that they would seek advice from a healthcare worker to vaccinate. Chronic disease [vs no chronic disease-Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 1.50, 95% Confidence Interval (CI)I: 1.10-2.03], males [vs females-AOR: 1.83, 95%CI: 1.37-2.44] and being a healthcare worker [vs not being a health worker-AOR: 1.59, 95%CI: 1.18-2.14] were associated with increased likelihood to vaccinate.
We found half of the participants willing to vaccinate against COVID-19. The majority lacked trust in the government and were uncertain about vaccine effectiveness and safety. The policy makers should consider targeting geographical and demographic groups which were unlikely to vaccinate with vaccine information, education and communication to improve uptake.
作为减轻 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行破坏性影响的一种方式，科学家匆忙开发了一种疫苗。然而，疫苗的推广可能会受到社交媒体广泛传播的错误信息的阻碍。因此，我们进行了一项研究，评估津巴布韦人对 COVID-19 疫苗的犹豫态度。
我们使用成年人的自我管理问卷，在线进行了描述性的横断面调查。问卷评估了接种疫苗的意愿；社会人口特征、个人态度和看法、疫苗的有效性和安全性。利用多变量逻辑回归分析来研究与疫苗接种相关的独立因素。
我们分析了 1168 名参与者的数据，年龄在 19-89 岁之间，大多数是女性（57.5%）。一半（49.9%）的参与者表示他们会接受 COVID-19 疫苗。大多数人对疫苗的有效性（76.0%）和安全性（55.0%）感到不确定。大约一半的人对政府确保有效疫苗供应的能力缺乏信任，61.0%的人表示他们会向医疗工作者寻求建议以接种疫苗。患有慢性病[与无慢性病相比-调整后的优势比（AOR）：1.50，95%置信区间（CI）：1.10-2.03]、男性[与女性相比-AOR：1.83，95%CI：1.37-2.44]和医疗工作者[与非医疗工作者相比-AOR：1.59，95%CI：1.18-2.14]与增加接种疫苗的可能性相关。
我们发现一半的参与者愿意接种 COVID-19 疫苗。大多数人对政府缺乏信任，对疫苗的有效性和安全性感到不确定。决策者应该考虑针对不太可能接种疫苗的地理和人口群体，通过疫苗信息、教育和宣传来提高接种率。
