COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake and Hesitancy amongst University Students in a Tertiary Institution in Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Hesitancy among various population groups, including young university students, is a significant challenge to maximising vaccination benefits, including the promotion of educational activities. However, there is a paucity of epidemiological evidence on COVID-19 hesitancy among this young population. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to describe the COVID-19 vaccine uptake and hesitancy amongst University students in a Tertiary Institution in Edo State, Nigeria, using appropriate standard methods with 677 students participating in this study from December 2021 to January 2023. Students aged 18-22 accounted for the highest proportion of the study participants at 71.1%, and the proportion of male students was slightly higher than that of female students (52.4% vs 47.6%). Only 9.2% of the 677 students had ever taken the COVID-19 vaccine prior to the study. However, 615 responded to whether they would be willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine if made available, of which 68.3% (420/615) reported hesitancy. The common reasons cited by hesitant students (n=420) were the ineffectiveness of the vaccine against severe clinical outcomes (46.0%; 193/420), unavailability of the vaccine (29.5%; 124/420), and other reasons such as fear and rumoured side effects (14.5; 61/420). In conclusion, COVID-19 vaccine uptake and hesitancy among students in the study population were low and high, respectively, underlining the need for context-specific COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.