Acceptance and Risk Perception of COVID-19 Vaccine in Uganda: A Cross Sectional Study in Western Uganda
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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Square
Abstract
Many countries have drawn their attention on developing Corona virus disease 2019 vaccine however there is less emphasis on whether this
vaccine could be accepted in most of these countries. This study aimed to investigate acceptance and risk perception of COVID-19 vaccine in Uganda.
Method: A simplified snowball sampling technique was used to select 1067 respondents of 18-70 years in western Uganda using an online questionnaire from
July to September 2020. Vaccine acceptability and risk perception was assessed using odds ratio at 95% confidence interval using R software version 3.6.3.
Results: The acceptance rate for vaccination against COVID-19 was (53.6%; 572/1067) with participants in the reference age group 18-20 (OR: 1; 95%CI: NA);
males (OR: 2.1; 95%CI: 1.56-2.71; P=0.000); tertiary level of education (OR: 2.8; 95%CI: 1.25-6.11; P=0.009); students (OR: 3.19; 95%CI: 1.98-5.15; P=0.000) and
non-salary earners (OR: 2.29; 95%CI: 1.53-3.44; P=0.000) significantly more likely to accept the vaccine. Results also showed that (46.4%; 495/1067) of the
respondents were un-likely to accept the vaccine. About (44.6%; 476/1067) of the respondents were likely to accept vaccine clinical trials with participants in
the reference age group 18-20 (OR: 1; 95%CI: NA), students (OR: 2.37; 95%CI: 1.49-3.77; P=0.000), marrieds (OR: 1.3; 95%CI: 1.03-1.69; P=0.028), and nonsalary
(OR: 1.56; 95%CI: 1.05-2.30; P=0.029) significantly more likely to accept clinical trials. There were (46.7%; 500/1067) of the respondents who perceived
the vaccine as being risky with males (OR: 3.13; 95%CI: 2.33-4.21; P=0.000); students (OR: 2.59; 95%CI: 1.63-4.13; P=0.000); Civil servants (OR: 1.49; 95%CI:
0.98-2.25; P=0.063); and non-salary earners; (OR: 2.34; 95%CI: 1.57-3.47; P=0.000) who significantly perceived the vaccine as being more risky.
Conclusion: The level of vaccine acceptance (53.6%) and risk perception (46.7%) was relatively average in western Uganda. In order to ensure successful
vaccination process, the government needs to prioritize vaccine acceptance strategies especially among the risky group in the community.
Description
Keywords
COVID-19, Vaccine, Acceptance, Clinical trial, Risk perception
Citation
Echoru, I., Ajambo, P. D., & Bukenya, E. M. (2020). Acceptance and risk perception of COVID-19 vaccine in Uganda: a cross sectional study in Western Uganda. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-78780/v1