ABSTRACT
Introduction: The COVID-19(SARS-CoV-2) is a communicable respiratory disease that affects all age groups. Having reached pandemic proportions in the recent years, it was declared as a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO on January 30 2020, and further declared a worldwide pandemic on 11th march 2020. Since then, attempts have been made to control disease spread including the development and trials of different vaccine.
Objective: This study was done to assess knowledge, attitude, willingness and uptake of COVID-19 vaccine among intra-city transporters in Benin Metropolis of Edo State Nigeria.
Methods: An analytic cross-sectional study design was adopted for this study. Study was carried out between June 2021 and May 2023. A multistage sampling technique was used in the selection of respondents. An interviewer-based questionnaire was used to obtain responses from respondents. Results of the survey are presented in tabular form.
Results: Majority of the respondents 158(40.6%) fell within age range of 36-45 years with mean age of 38.67+ 9.33. All 389 respondents were males and 170(43.7%) were from the Benin ethnic group. One hundred and fifty five (39.8%) had secondary education as their highest level of education. One-tenth of respondents (9.8%) had good knowledge of the COVID-19 vaccine. Age of respondents significantly determined knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine (OR = 1.045, CI = 1.008 – 1.083, p = 0.017). More so, less than one-thirds of respondents (28.3%) had positive attitude towards the vaccine. With, level of education of respondents and knowledge of COVID-19 vaccination shown to significantly determine attitude of respondents towards the vaccine (OR = 0.019, Cl = 0.004 – 0.094, p < 0.001; OR = 1.388, Cl = 0.181 – 0.832, p = 0.015 respectfully). Only 66 (15.0%) respondents were willing to take the vaccine.Knowledge of COVID-19 vaccination was shown to significantly influence willingness to take the vaccine (OR = 5.662, Cl = 1.207 – 26.212, p = 0.028). Furthermore, less than one-tenth 30(7.7%) of respondents had taken the vaccine. Finally, willingness to take COVID-19 vaccine was the significant determinant of uptake of COVID-19 vaccine (OR = 8.082, Cl = 2.208 – 29.584, p = 0.002).
Conclusion: The study highlights the role knowledge, attitude and willingness for vaccine uptake plays in the uptake of the vaccine. Respondents generally had poor knowledge, negative attitude and low willingness for vaccine uptake, hence low levels of the vaccine uptake. This study spells the need for education and enlightenment regarding the vaccine at all levels among this population.
