Journal
VACCINES
Volume 10, Issue 4, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10040609
Keywords
COVID-19; vaccine acceptance; vaccine hesitancy; COVID-19 vaccine uptake; healthcare workers; ophthalmology; health belief model; Uganda
Categories
Funding
- Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD) [D43TW010132]
- National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders And Stroke (NINDS)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
- Fogarty International Center (FIC)
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
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The study revealed a high acceptance rate of the COVID-19 vaccine among eye healthcare workers in Uganda. High perceived susceptibility and high perceived benefits were significantly associated with vaccine acceptance. There is a need to provide vaccines to developing countries.
Background: Protecting healthcare workers against COVID-19 disease is crucial, and COVID-19 vaccination is the most effective method to do so. Eye healthcare workers provide routine care in proximity, increasing infection risk, hence their need for full vaccination. This study determined COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and barriers to its uptake among eye healthcare workers practicing in Uganda. Methods: This was a cross-sectional online and telephone survey based on the health belief model (HBM), conducted in June-August 2021. A modified Poisson regression model with robust standard errors was used to determine the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Results: In total, 300 (85%) of the 357 eye healthcare workers participated in the study with mean age 43 +/- 8 years and 182 (60.7%) were men. Overall, 97.6% (95% CI: 95.9-99.4) had accepted and/or were willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, 65.3% had received a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 97 (32.3%) reported the intention to accept the vaccine when it became available. Among the HBM constructs, high perceived susceptibility and high perceived benefits were significantly associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Conclusions: The acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine among eye healthcare workers in Uganda is very high. There is a dire need to make vaccines available to developing nations like Uganda.
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