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ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and was declared to be a global pandemic by the WHO in March 2020. Vaccination is a crucial measure for controlling the spread of the virus. Several vaccines have been developed and approved for use including the novel mRNA type vaccines. Uptake of the vaccine is affected by factors such as hesitancy, supply-demand gaps and the economic impact of the lockdown measures as well as knowledge of and attitude towards the vaccine. This study aims as assessing level of uptake of the COVID-19 vaccination and factors affecting it among traders in Benin City. Method: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among traders in Egor, Ovia North-East and Oredo Local Government Areas of Benin City, the capital of Edo State, Nigeria. A sample size of 426 was obtained, and a multistage sampling technique was used to select respondents. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee in University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) before commencement of the study with ethical clearance number ADM/E 22/A/VOL.VII/14831293. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data for the study after pretesting. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Results: The mean age of respondents was 45.7 ± 11.2. A higher proportion, 89.0% were female, Christians (93.0%) and married (81.0%). Out of 426 respondents, 42.7% had primary level of education. The median household income was 120,000 naira. From the responses, 35.7% and 15.5% had good knowledge of and good attitude towards the COVID-19 vaccine respectively. About a quarter of the respondents, 26.3% were willing to take the vaccine and 15.0% had taken it. The factors found to affect uptake of the vaccine were age (p=0.012), household monthly xiii income (p<0.001), knowledge of (p<0.001), attitude towards (p=0.013) and willingness (p=0.025) to take the COVID-19 vaccination.
