2024/07/13 by Aria, Oti Nimi, Nnama, Alero Ibifuro, Iroegbu-Emeruem, Linda
#Covid-19 #resident doctors #vaccination acceptance
paper · doi:10.60787/tnhj.v24i1.754
Background: Despite the global emphasis on the prevention of COVID-19 and other communicable diseases through vaccination, there are still reports of vaccine hesitancy even among healthcare workers. This study provides useful insights on the underlying causes of vaccine hesitancy to guide the development of strategies likely to reduce vaccine hesitancy and strengthen the control of vaccine-preventable infections in a developing country like Nigeria. To evaluate the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine and the associated KAP and socio-demographic factors among resident doctors at The University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) in order to provide information necessary for vaccine enlightenment programmes and for policymakers focused on controlling vaccine-preventable pandemics. Method: A cross-sectional survey of resident doctors at the UPTH was done. A validated self-administered online questionnaire was used to collect the data on the acceptance and KAP of COVID-19 vaccine. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the strength of association of socio-demographic variables and KAP with the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine. Result: The study found a high acceptance rate of 79.7% for the COVID-19 vaccine. Notably, there was a significant link between accepting the vaccine and having a positive attitude towards it (p = 0.0001) and also engaging in good practices (p = 0.001). However, there wasn't a clear connection between vaccine acceptance and having a good knowledge about it (p = 0.606). After adjusting for confounding variables, young adults aged 25 – 30 years showed the strongest relationship to vaccine acceptance when compared to older age groups (AOR= 8.74). Conclusion: The acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine among resident doctors (79.7%) was significantly associated with younger age, good attitude, and good practice.