Knowledge and uptake of Covid-19 vaccine amongst students of tertiary institutions in Oghara, Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus disease is a global health emergency that began in China, in 2019. It resulted in several morbidity and mortality worldwide. The introduction of Covid-19 vaccine in Nigeria was hampered by wide spread vaccine hesitancy due to factors like misinformation, rapid rollout, safety concerns, potential adverse effects, and conspiracy theories. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and uptake of Covid-19 vaccine among students of tertiary institutions in Oghara, Delta State, Nigeria.

Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed to collect data from 354 participants in three tertiary institutions in Oghara using multistage sampling technique. Data analysis was done using IBM-SPSS version-26 software. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were done and level of significance set at P<0.05.

Results: Most respondents were between ages 21-25 (53.2%) with females constituting 55.6%. Seventy-one
percent of respondents had good knowledge of Covid-19 vaccine. Only 27% had been vaccinated while 73% are unvaccinated. Among those unvaccinated, 57.7% were not willing to be vaccinated. Good knowledge of Covid-19 vaccine (P=0.048) and having previous exposure to information, education and communication about Covid-19 vaccine (P=0.024) were found to have a statistically significant association with the uptake of Covid-19 vaccine.

Conclusion: Majority of students of tertiary institutions in Oghara have good knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine however the uptake was poor. More effort should be invested in providing accurate information about the vaccines while mitigating misinformation.