Journal of Vaccines & Vaccination

Abstract

Spirituality and Other Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance amongst Healthcare Workers in Cameroon

Neh Chang Ngasa, Stewart Ndutard Ngasa*, Leticia Armelle Sani Tchouda, Christabel Abanda, Eugénie Tanisso and Therence Nwana Dingana

The production of the different COVID-19 vaccines has offered hope towards controlling the pandemic. Many governments around the world have been able to secure the number of doses required for the vaccination of their entire population. In Cameroon, the government’s strategy has been to secure the number of doses required to vaccinate frontline workers and other population at risk. A threat to this strategy could be vaccine hesitancy as demonstrated in previous studies. In this article we discussed the influence of spirituality on vaccine acceptance. We also examined other factors associated with vaccine acceptance amongst healthcare workers in Cameroon. Methods: This was a cross-sectional online survey of healthcare workers in Cameroon. Data was collected using Survey sparrow and then computed into Microsoft Excel. All analysis was done using Stata 14. Results: A total number of 371 healthcare workers took part in the survey and 45.38% indicated willingness to accept the vaccine if offered. The most common reason advanced for non-acceptance of the vaccine was negative perceptions about the efficacy of the vaccines. Independent factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance following a multivariate logistic regression included: being married (AOR 1.13, p<0.01), presence of comorbidity (AOR: 2.10, p<0.02), participants who had direct contact with COVID patients (AOR: 3.34, p<0.01). Spirituality level was not independently associated with vaccine acceptance (AOR: 1.12, p<0.63). Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccine acceptance amongst healthcare workers in Cameroon is low. This is likely to reduce the vaccine uptake amongst healthcare workers. HCWs are in the best position to influence the uptake of these vaccines by the general population; therefore educating healthcare workers on the efficacy of these vaccines might improve their acceptance.

Published Date: 2021-08-04; Received Date: 2021-07-14