Drivers of Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Southern Nigeria
Abstract:
Hesitancy against the Covid-19 vaccines
cuts across all nations of the world, but this may not be unconnected to the trolls
of misinformation and politicization surrounding the Covid-19 science. Findings
from this study reveal that 84.7% of the study population lacks adequate information
about the Covid-19 vaccines. 50% of the study population is skeptical about the
safety of the Covid-19 vaccines. 100% of the study participants make use of the
internet and other social media platforms for their sources of news information.
55.3% of the study population would follow the advice of their healthcare workers
pertaining to the Covid-19 vaccines. 26.7% of the study population would listen
to instructions given by their parents pertaining to the Covid-19 vaccines, while
20.7% of the study population would follow the guidance of their religious leaders
respectively. Thus, the main drivers of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in Southern Nigeria
are a lack of correct information about the Covid-19 vaccines, misinformation on
social media platforms, resistance from religious leaders and parents, and a lack
of support for the Covid-19 vaccine uptake on the part of healthcare workers. It
is, therefore, imperative that in order to overcome the present challenge, the population
of Southern Nigeria should be educated on Covid-19 related subjects and engaged
with health promotion initiatives. While accepting the Covid-19 vaccines by the
hesitant populations in Southern Nigeria is largely dependent upon the attitudes
and influences of religious leaders, parents, and healthcare workers, a much larger
study is required to fully establish the ramifications of these important findings.
References:
[1] Abdulkarim,
A. A., Ibrahim, R. M., Fawi, A. O., Adebayo, O. A., & Johnson, A. W. B. R. (2011).
Vaccines and immunization: The past, present, and future in Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Pediatrics, 38(4), 186-194.
[2] Idris, A.
J. (2014). Health Personnel and the Success of Immunization in Nigeria: A Study
of Selected Local Government Areas in Kaduna State. Review of Public Administration and Management, 2(6).
[3] Cooper,
S., Betsch, C., Sambala, E. Z., Mchiza, N., & Wiysonge, C. S. (2018). Vaccine
hesitancy–a potential threat to the achievements of vaccination programmes in Africa.
Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics,
14(10), 2355-2357.
[4] Rappuoli,
R. (2014). Vaccines: science, health, longevity, and wealth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(34), 12282-12282.
[5] Bolsen,
T., & Palm, R. (2022). Politicization and Covid-19 vaccine resistance in the
US. Progress in molecular biology and translational
science, 188(1), 81.
[6] Cucinotta,
D., & Vanelli, M. (2020). WHO declares Covid-19 a pandemic. Acta Bio Medica: Atenei Parmensis, 91(1),
157.
[7] Altindis,
E. (2022). Inequitable Covid-19 vaccine distribution and intellectual property rights
prolong the pandemic. Expert review of vaccines,
21(4), 427-430.
[8] Tao, K.,
Tzou, P. L., Nouhin, J., Gupta, R. K., de Oliveira, T., Kosakovsky Pond, S. L.,
& Shafer, R. W. (2021). The biological and clinical significance of emerging
SARS-CoV-2 variants. Nature Reviews Genetics,
1-17.
[9] Sallam,
M. (2021). Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy worldwide: a concise systematic review of
vaccine acceptance rates. Vaccines, 9(2),
160.
[10] Farayibi,
A., & Asongu, S. (2020). The economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic
in Nigeria. European Xtra mile Centre of African
Studies, WP/20/042 (2020).
[11] Ghatak, N., Marzo, R. R.,
Saleem, S. M., Sharma, N., Bhattacharya, S., & Singh, A. (2020). Impact on routine
immunization services during the lockdown period in India: Implications and future
recommendations. European Journal of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, 35-40.
[12] Hassan, W., Kazmi, S. K.,
Tahir, M. J., Ullah, I., Royan, H. A., Fahriani, M., & Rosa, S. G. (2021). Global
acceptance and hesitancy of Covid-19 vaccination: A narrative review. Narra J,
1(3).
[13] Reiter,
P. L., Pennell, M. L., & Katz, M. L. (2020). Acceptability of a Covid-19 vaccine
among adults in the United States: How many people would get vaccinated? Vaccine, 38(42), 6500-6507.
[14] Bell, S.,
Clarke, R., Mounier-Jack, S., Walker, J. L., & Paterson, P. (2020). Parents’
and guardians’ views on the acceptability of a future Covid-19 vaccine: A multi-methods
study in England. Vaccine, 38(49), 7789-7798.
[15] Machingaidze,
S., & Wiysonge, C. S. (2021). Understanding Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy. Nature Medicine, 27(8), 1338-1339.
[16] Adebisi,
Y. A., Alaran, A. J., Bolarinwa, O. A., Akande-Sholabi, W., & Lucero-Prisno,
D. E. (2021). When it is available, will we take it? Public perception of hypothetical
Covid-19 vaccine in Nigeria. medRxiv.
[17] Eze, U.
A., Ndoh, K. I., Ibisola, B. A., Onwuliri, C. D., Osiyemi, A., Ude, N., ... &
Abdullahi, A. (2021). Determinants for acceptance of Covid-19 vaccine in Nigeria.
Cureus, 13(11).
[18] MacDonald,
N. E. (2015). Vaccine hesitancy: Definition, scope, and determinants. Vaccine, 33(34), 4161-4164.
[19] Murphy,
J., Vallières, F., Bentall, R. P., Shevlin, M., McBride, O., Hartman, T. K., &
Hyland, P. (2021). Psychological characteristics associated with Covid-19 vaccine
hesitancy and resistance in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Nature communications, 12(1), 1-15.
[20] King, W.
C., Rubinstein, M., Reinhart, A., & Mejia, R. (2021). Time trends, factors associated
with, and reasons for Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy: A massive online survey of US
adults from January-May 2021. PloS one,
16(12), e0260731.
[21] Agha, S.;
Chine, A.; Lalika, M.; Pandey, S.; Seth, A.; Wiyeh, A.; Seng, A.; Rao, N.; Badshah,
A. Drivers of Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake amongst Healthcare Workers (HCWs) in Nigeria.
Vaccines 2021, 9, 1162 https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9101162.
[22] Orji, P.
C., Allagoa, D. O., Obagah, L., Tekenah, E. S., Ohaeri, O. S., & Atemie, G.
(2021). Perception about Covid-19 vaccine among patients at the Federal Medical
Centre, Yenagoa, South-South Nigeria. Int
J Res Med Sci, 9(5), 1281-1287.
[23] Hussin, H. B., Marzo, R.
R., Mamat, N. B., Safee, N. F. B., Omar, N. B., & Yin, T. S. (2020). The barriers
to child immunization completion among parents in the community health centre, Johor
Bahru. Article | IMSEAR | ID: sea-215923.
[24] Kaufman, J., Tuckerman, J.,
Bonner, C., Durrheim, D. N., Costa, D., Trevena, L., ... & Danchin, M. (2021).
Parent-level barriers to uptake of childhood vaccination: a global overview of systematic
reviews. BMJ global health, 6(9), e006860.
[25] Bangura, J. B., Xiao, S.,
Qiu, D., Ouyang, F., & Chen, L. (2020). Barriers to childhood immunization in
sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review. BMC Public Health, 20(1),
1-15.
[26] Marzo, R. R., Su, T. T.,
Ismail, R., Htay, M. N. N., Essar, M. Y., Chauhan, S., ... & Lin, Y. (2022).
Digital health literacy for Covid-19 vaccination and intention to be immunized:
A cross-sectional multi-country study among the general adult population. Frontiers
in Public Health, 10.
[27] Lockyer,
B., Islam, S., Rahman, A., Dickerson, J., Pickett, K., Sheldon, T., ... & Bradford
Institute for Health Research Covid‐19 Scientific Advisory Group. (2021). Understanding
Covid‐19 misinformation and vaccine hesitancy in context: Findings from a qualitative
study involving citizens in Bradford, UK. Health
Expectations, 24(4), 1158-1167.
[28] Kricorian, K., Civen, R., & Equils, O. (2022). Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy: Misinformation and perceptions of vaccine safety. Human Vaccines & Immuno therapeutics, 18(1), 1950504.
[29] Kanozia,
R., & Arya, R. (2021). “Fake news”, religion, and Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy
in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Media
Asia, 48(4), 313-321.
[30] Marzo, R. R., Ahmad, A.,
Abid, K., Khatiwada, A. P., Ahmed, A., Kyaw, T. M., ... & Shrestha, S. (2022).
Factors influencing the acceptability of Covid-19 vaccination: a cross-sectional
study from Malaysia. Vacunas (English Edition), 23, 33-40.
[31] Marzo, R. R., Ahmad, A.,
Islam, M. S., Essar, M. Y., Heidler, P., King, I., ... & Yi, S. (2022). Perceived
Covid-19 vaccine effectiveness, acceptance, and drivers of vaccination decision-making
among the general adult population: A global survey of 20 countries. PLoS neglected
tropical diseases, 16(1), e0010103.
[32] Marzo, R. R., Sami, W., Alam,
M., Acharya, S., Jermsittiparsert, K., Songwathana, K., ... & Yi, S. (2022).
Hesitancy in Covid-19 vaccine uptake and its associated factors among the general
adult population: a cross-sectional study in six Southeast Asian countries. Tropical
Medicine and Health, 50(1), 1-10.
[33] Elsayed, M., El-Abasiri,
R. A., Dardeer, K. T., Kamal, M. A., Htay, M. N. N., Abler, B., & Marzo, R.
R. (2021). Factors influencing decision making regarding the acceptance of the Covid-19
vaccination in Egypt: A cross-sectional study in an urban, well-educated sample.
Vaccines, 10(1), 20.
[34] Brackstone, K., Marzo, R.
R., Bahari, R., Head, M. G., Patalinghug, M. E., & Su, T. T. (2022). Covid-19
Vaccine Hesitancy and Confidence in the Philippines and Malaysia: A Cross-sectional
Study of Sociodemographic Factors and Information-Seeking. medRxiv.