Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 vaccination among secondary school students in Kajiado County, Kenya: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: The study investigated the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 vaccination among secondary  school students in Kenya and identify significant differences in KAP between students from day and boarding schools.

Methods: A  descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted among 246 secondary school students in Kajiado North Sub-County, Kenya. Students were  selected from five schools using proportionate random sampling. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a structured  questionnaire, with descriptive statistics and chi-square tests for analysis.

Results: 95% of students possessed high level of knowledge  about COVID-19 vaccination. Our analysis revealed a statistically non-significant difference in vaccine knowledge between students from  day secondary schools and those from boarding secondary schools (χ2=0.025, p=0.874). Attitudes towards vaccination were generally  positive among students. However, we identified a significant difference in attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccine between students from  day and boarding schools (χ2=10.72, p=0.001), highlighting a variance in perception based on type of schooling. 95% of the students  exhibited supportive and proactive behavior towards COVID-19 vaccination. We did not find any statistically significant difference in  practices towards COVID-19 vaccination between students from day and boarding schools (χ2 = 0.209, p = 0.648).

Conclusion: Our study  demonstrates a high level of knowledge, positive attitudes, and proactive practices towards COVID-19 vaccination among secondary  school students in Kenya, irrespective of school type. The recommendations were: sustain high vaccine knowledge in future, vaccination programs should incorporate regular updates and educational sessions. Ministry of Education and schools should develop vaccination  campaign programs involving students and parents, especially in boarding schools.