Trust about corona vaccine among health professionals working at Dilla University referral hospital, 2021

Understanding the COVID-19 vaccine uptake, acceptance, and hesitancy in Ethiopia and Tanzania: a scoping review

Background

The development and implementation of COVID-19 vaccines have been a breakthrough in controlling the pandemic. However, the vaccination coverage in most low-income countries remains very low due to critical vaccine shortage and profound hesitancy. In this scoping review, we aimed to assess COVID-19 vaccine uptake, acceptance, and hesitancy in Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Methods

The search was made in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science. Only original research articles focusing on vaccine acceptance and hesitancy were included. The studies selected for a full read were analysed using a thematic analysis approach.

Findings

A total of 76 articles were included in the study, with 74 of them coming from Ethiopia. The study found an increasing trend in vaccine uptake over time. However, there was also an increase in hesitancy and a decline in willingness to receive the vaccine. The willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Ethiopia ranged from 18.5 to 88%. The main reasons for "vaccine hesitancy" included fear of side effects, concerns about long-term safety, doubts about vaccine effectiveness, lack of information, vaccine fast-tracking, and religious beliefs. The study also found that younger individuals, females, and pregnant women were less willing to receive the vaccine. The adverse events reported among vaccinated individuals were mostly mild. Most of the studies operationalised vaccine acceptance-hesitancy as dichotomous variables. However, the historical, political, and socio-cultural context in which vaccine acceptance and hesitancy occur was not given any attention. While there is a good amount of data from Ethiopia describing patterns of vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among different populations over time, there is limited information from Tanzania due to the late arrival of the vaccine and limited published articles.

Conclusion

We have observed a paradox involving two seemingly conflicting trends: an increase in vaccination rates/coverage and "anti-vax." Most studies have simplified vaccine acceptance-hesitancy as an "either-or" incident, without considering its dynamic nature and occurrence within a broader political, social, and cultural context. Therefore, it is crucial to explore approaches that can enhance our understanding of the vaccine acceptance-hesitancy phenomenon, in order to improve vaccine trust and uptake.

Online course on vaccinating people with HIV/AIDS - effectiveness in the knowledge of nursing professionals

OBJECTIVE

analyzing the effectiveness of an educational intervention on the knowledge of nursing professionals regarding the immunization of people with the human immunodeficiency virus.

METHOD

a quasi-experimental study evaluated professionals' knowledge through a knowledge test applied before and after the development of an online training course. The data was analyzed using frequency, median, mean, standard deviation, and association tests.

RESULTS

the sample consisted of 77 nursing professionals whose mean age was 43.2 years (SD+/-8.2). More than half of the individuals worked in basic health units (58.4%), 22.1% worked in specialized services that provide clinical monitoring for people with the human immunodeficiency virus, and 42 (54.5%) were nursing assistants or technicians. The professionals' performance improved after the intervention, with an increase in the median number of correct answers from 23.0 to 27.0 (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

offering an online training course on the immunization of people with the human immunodeficiency virus, as a continuing education activity, proved to be effective in improving nursing professionals' knowledge on this subject.

HIGHLIGHTS

(1) Services do not evaluate the vaccination status of people living with HIV.(2) The knowledge of health professionals may influence vaccination rates.(3) Health professionals' knowledge of immunization may be insufficient.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Latin America and Africa: a scoping review

Vaccination has played an important role in the containment of COVID-19 pandemic advances. However, SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy has caused a global concern. This scoping review aims to map the scientific literature on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Latin America and Africa from a Global Health perspective, observing the particularities of the Global South and using parameters validated by the World Health Organization (WHO). The review reporting observes the recommendations of the PRISMA for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) model. Search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Virtual Health Library (VHL) databases, selecting studies published from January 1, 2020 to January 22, 2022. Selected studies indicate that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy involves factors such as political scenario, spread of misinformation, regional differences in each territory regarding Internet access, lack of access to information, history of vaccination resistance, lack of information about the disease and the vaccine, concern about adverse events, and vaccine efficacy and safety. Regarding the use of conceptual and methodology references from the WHO for vaccine hesitancy, few studies (6/94) use research instruments based on these references. Then, the replication in Global South of conceptual and methodological parameters developed by experts from the Global North contexts has been criticized from the perspective of Global Health because of it may not consider political and sociocultural particularities, the different nuances of vaccine hesitancy, and issues of access to vaccines.

Comparison of AstraZeneca and sinopharm vaccines as boosters in protection against COVID-19 infection

BACKGROUND

As the global number of confirmed cases rises past 640 million, vaccination remains the most effective measure in controlling COVID-19. Studies have shown that two doses of vaccination can significantly reduce hospitalization and mortality rates among patients, but the effectiveness of booster doses is also important. We aimed to evaluate the role played by the type of the 3rd dose of vaccination by comparing the safety and efficacy of two common vaccination histories differing only in the 3rd received dose.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study on patients with respiratory symptoms suspected of having SARS-CoV-2 infection using Real-time PCR. We also collected information on the age, gender, and type of vaccine received for the third dose.

RESULTS

Out of 346 cases with respiratory symptoms, 120 cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and had received two doses of Sinopharm and a different booster dose of either AZD1222 (AstraZeneca) or BIBP (Sinopharm). Among these 120 patients, vaccination with AZD1222 as a booster dose resulted in fewer symptoms compared to those vaccinated with three doses of BIBP.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrates that booster doses can help reduce hospitalization and the severity of infection, and it appears that a combination of different vaccines may be effective against severe COVID-19 infection.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Africa: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

Vaccination against the novel coronavirus is one of the most effective strategies for combating the global Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, vaccine hesitancy has emerged as a major obstacle in several regions of the world, including Africa. The objective of this rapid review was to summarize the literature on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Africa.

METHODS

We searched Scopus, Web of Science, African Index Medicus, and OVID Medline for studies published from January 1, 2020, to March 8, 2022, examining acceptance or hesitancy towards the COVID-19 vaccine in Africa. Study characteristics and reasons for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance were extracted from the included articles.

RESULTS

A total of 71 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the review. Majority (n = 25, 35%) of the studies were conducted in Ethiopia. Studies conducted in Botswana, Cameroun, Cote D'Ivoire, DR Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe were also included in the review. The vaccine acceptance rate ranged from 6.9 to 97.9%. The major reasons for vaccine hesitancy were concerns with vaccine safety and side effects, lack of trust for pharmaceutical industries and misinformation or conflicting information from the media. Factors associated with positive attitudes towards the vaccine included being male, having a higher level of education, and fear of contracting the virus.

CONCLUSIONS

Our review demonstrated the contextualized and multifaceted reasons inhibiting or encouraging vaccine uptake in African countries. This evidence is key to operationalizing interventions based on facts as opposed to assumptions. Our paper provided important considerations for addressing the challenge of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and blunting the impact of the pandemic in Africa.

Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccine and Its Associated Factors Among Ethiopian Population: A Systematic Review

INTRODUCTION

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global health threat. Millions of lives were lost to COVID-19 and it has caused a substantial economic crisis throughout the world. The development of coronavirus vaccines has pinned a new hope in combating the pandemic. The success of vaccination and development of herd immunity highly depend on the willingness to be vaccinated, not merely on the availability of a vaccine. This review aims to provide comprehensive evidence on acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine and its associated factors in Ethiopia.

METHODS

Literature searching was done using PubMed, Google scholar and Science direct databases. Studies conducted in Ethiopia, published in English language from inception until January 9, 2022 were included. Retrieved articles were screened based on titles, abstracts and full text reading to identify studies that met the inclusion criteria. About 21 eligible studies were included in this systematic review. The data were extracted using a data extraction checklist.

RESULTS

A total of 2058 records were retrieved, of which 21 were eligible for this systematic review. All of the articles were cross-sectional studies published in 2021. In Ethiopia, the level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance ranged from 31.4% to 92.33%. The vaccine acceptance level was significantly associated with age groups, sex, educational status, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefit, knowledge about COVID-19 vaccine, and other socio-demographic factors.

CONCLUSION

A significant portion of the studies revealed vaccine acceptance level was low. Variation of vaccine acceptance was associated with socio-demographic factors (age, sex, educational status, etc.), information-related factors, and other health-related behaviors. Dissemination of clear and adequate information concerning the vaccine might be the required prior activity to increase acceptance of the vaccine. Hence, there should be a coordinated effort to halt the pandemic through increasing the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine.