Acceptance of the coronavirus disease- 2019 vaccine among medical students in Uganda
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tropical medicine and health
Abstract
COVID-19 is still a major global threat for which vaccination remains the ultimate solution. Uganda
reported 40,751 cases and 335 deaths as of 9 April 2021 and started its vaccination program among priority groups
like health workers, teachers, those with chronic diseases among others in early March 2021. Unanimous uptake of
the COVID-19 vaccine is required to subsequently avert its spread; therefore, we assessed COVID-19 vaccine
acceptability, hesitancy, and associated factors among medical students in Uganda.
Methods: This study employed an online descriptive cross-sectional survey among medical students across 10
medical schools in Uganda. A structured questionnaire via Google Form was conveniently sent to eligible
participants via WhatsApp. Each medical school had a coordinator who consistently shared the data tool in the
WhatsApp groups. Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test, and logistic regression were used to assess the association
between vaccine acceptability with demographics, COVID-19 risk perception, and vaccine hesitancy.
Results: We surveyed 600 medical students, 377 (62.8%) were male. COVID-19 vaccine acceptability was 37.3% and
vaccine hesitancy 30.7%. Factors associated with vaccine acceptability were being male (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) =
1.9, 95% CI 1.3–2.9, p=0.001) and being single (aOR= 2.1, 95% CI 1.1–3.9, p=0.022). Very high (aOR= 3.5, 95% CI 1.7–
6.9, p<0.001) or moderate (aOR =2.2, 95% CI 1.2–4.1, p=0.008) perceived risk of getting COVID-19 in the future,
receiving any vaccine in the past 5 years (aOR= 1.6, 95% CI 1.1–2.5, p=0.017), and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (aOR
0.6, 95% CI 0.4–0.9, p=0.036).
Conclusions: This study revealed low levels of acceptance towards the COVID-19 vaccine among medical students,
low self-perceived risks of COVID-19, and many had relied on social media that provided them with negative
information. This poses an evident risk on the battle towards COVID-19 in the future especially when these future
health professions are expected to be influencing decisions of the general public towards the same.
Description
Keywords
COVID-19, Vaccine acceptance, Vaccine hesitancy, Medical students
Citation
Kanyike, A. M., Olum, R., Kajjimu, J., Ojilong, D., Akech, G. M., Nassozi, D. R., ... & Bongomin, F. (2021). Acceptance of the coronavirus disease-2019 vaccine among medical students in Uganda. Tropical medicine and health, 49(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-021-00331-1