Journal of Biomedical and Engineering Research

Correlates of Acceptability of Covid-19 Vaccine Among Health Care Workers at Ndola Teaching Hospital, Ndola, Zambia

Abstract

Hope Kalasa, Diana K Mwaba, Chitalu Chanda, Janet Ngulube, Chitundu Mbao, Victor Daka and Steward Mudenda

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic began in 2019, and as of September 2023, there were over 770 million confirmed cases and over 6 million deaths globally. Vaccines have long been a reliable method of illness prevention and saving millions of lives every year from life threatening diseases. However, vaccination hesitancy has been a major global problem, causing the World Health Organization to list it as one of the top ten global health threats in 2019. As a result, it is critical to examine HCWs’ perceptions of vaccination acceptability and to develop particular strategic initiatives to improve HCWs’ perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptability among health care workers at Ndola Teaching Hospital in Ndola, Zambia.

Study Methodology: This study was a cross-sectional analytical study that was assessing acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine among health care workers at Ndola Teaching Hospital, Ndola, Zambia. 320 HCWs (Medical Doctors, Pharmacists, Clinical Officers and Nurses) were sampled using a probability proportional to size method. Only 291 (90.9%) of the 320 HCWs were chosen to participate in the study after they disclosed their vaccination status.

Results: Out of 291 HCWs, n=205 (70.4%) were vaccinated against COVID-19. Clinical Officers, Medical Doctors, and Nurses are more likely to be vaccinated than Pharmacists. Those who have a chronic condition or have worked in a hospital for a longer period of time more likely to be vaccinated. HCWs who had Covid-19 disease (p = <0.001) were also significantly associated with vaccination acceptability. Having a moderate (aOR 0.007; 95% CI 0.000 - 0.181; p=0.003) and severe (aOR 0.030; 95% CI 0.002 - 0.511; p=0.015) Covid-19 disease in adults were significantly associated with vaccination acceptability.

Conclusion: The study indicates that, 205 out of 291 HCWs had been vaccinated, while 86 were still hesitant. Those that were not vaccinated explained their choice by not feeling at risk of complicated COVID-19, and because of fear of possible side effects associated with the vaccine. Investments in COVID-19 vaccine awareness is a critical to increasing vaccine acceptance especially among the unvaccinated.