Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, P/Bag 360, Chichiri Blantyre 3, Blantyre, Malawi.
UbuntuNet Alliance, Onions Office Complex, Off Mzimba Street, P.O. Box 2550, Lilongwe, Malawi.
BMC Infect Dis. 2024 Aug 21;24(1):848. doi: 10.1186/s12879-024-09534-3.
The Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccines were rolled out in many countries; however, sub-optimal COVID-19 vaccine uptake remains a major public health concern globally. This study aimed at assessing the factors that affected the uptake, hesitancy, and resistance of the COVID-19 vaccine among university undergraduate students in Malawi, a least developed country in Africa.
A descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted using an online semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 343 University undergraduate students in Blantyre participated in this study after obtaining ethical clearance. Data was exported from Survey Monkey to Microsoft Excel version-21 for cleaning and was analysed using SPSS version-29. Descriptive statistics, including percentages, were performed to define the sample characteristics. Pearson Chi-square and Fisher's exact test were performed to identify significant relationships between vaccine uptake and demographics. A 95% confidence interval was set, and a p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Of the 343 participants, 43% were vaccinated. Among the vaccinated, the majority (47.3%, n = 69/146) received Johnson & Johnson vaccine followed by AstraZeneca (46.6%, n = 68/146). The commonly reported reason for vaccine acceptance was 'to protect me against getting COVID-19' (49%); whereas vaccine hesitancy was attributed to 'lack of knowledge (34%), and concerns about vaccine safety (25%).
This study found that adequate knowledge about benefits and safety of COVID-19 vaccine could potentially increase uptake. Lack of credible information or misinformation contributed to vaccine hesitancy. The findings provide insights for design of strategies to increase future vaccine uptake and reduce determinants of vaccine hesitancy. To reduce vaccination hesitancy in any population with or without higher education, we recommend that institutions entrusted with vaccine management must optimise health messaging, and reduce mis-information and dis-information.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫苗已在许多国家推出；然而，全球范围内 COVID-19 疫苗接种率不理想仍是一个主要的公共卫生关注点。本研究旨在评估影响马拉维大学生 COVID-19 疫苗接种、犹豫和抵制的因素，马拉维是非洲最不发达国家之一。
采用在线半结构式问卷进行描述性横断面研究设计。在获得伦理批准后，共有 343 名布莱顿大学生参与了这项研究。数据从 Survey Monkey 导出到 Microsoft Excel 版本 21 进行清理，并使用 SPSS 版本 29 进行分析。采用百分比进行描述性统计，以定义样本特征。采用 Pearson 卡方检验和 Fisher 精确检验来确定疫苗接种与人口统计学之间的显著关系。置信区间为 95%，p 值<0.05 被认为具有统计学意义。
在 343 名参与者中，43%的人接种了疫苗。在已接种疫苗的人群中，大多数人（47.3%，n=69/146）接种了强生疫苗，其次是阿斯利康（46.6%，n=68/146）。疫苗接种接受的常见原因是“保护我免受 COVID-19 感染”（49%）；而疫苗犹豫则归因于“缺乏知识（34%）和对疫苗安全性的担忧（25%）”。
本研究发现，增加对 COVID-19 疫苗的益处和安全性的了解可能会提高接种率。缺乏可靠信息或错误信息导致了疫苗犹豫。这些发现为设计增加未来疫苗接种率和减少疫苗犹豫决定因素的策略提供了思路。为了减少任何具有或不具有高等教育的人群的疫苗犹豫，我们建议负责疫苗管理的机构必须优化健康信息传递，并减少错误信息和虚假信息。
