COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and associated factors among medical students in Tanzania: evidence from the Catholic University of Health and Allied Science, Mwanza region

Abstract

Background: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the government of Tanzania has made efforts and initiatives to protect its citizens. These efforts and control measures are lined with WHO guidelines and the National response plan for controlling the COVID-19 outbreak. Unlike other control measures, the Vaccine remained a promised solution to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to determine the COVID-19 hesitancy level and associated factors among medical students. Furthermore, it aims to provide valuable insights and information that can be applied in future immunization campaigns/strategies to improve vaccination rates among this particular group of future medical professionals during the pandemic.

Methods: This is an analytical cross-sectional survey conducted to assess the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and associated factors among 580 undergraduate medical students at the Catholic University of Health and Allied Science (CUHAS) in Mwanza region, Tanzania. Data was collected through a questionnaire and analyzed using STATA version 18.0 to extract descriptive and inferential statistics to determine the factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in this particular group of future medical professionals. All the statistics were obtained at a 5% significant level.

Results: The vaccine hesitancy was 75.6% (95% CI, 71.9%-79.2%). Thus, more than half of the medical student 54.3% do not trust the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine with AOR 2.96 (95% CI, 1.80-4.86, p-value<0.001); likewise, the safety of Vaccine AOR 0.1.89 (95% CI, 1.11-3.21, p-value=0.019). Further, students who do not prefer free riding (i.e., letting others get the vaccine and believing to get the beneficial effect of herd immunity without being vaccinated) were less likely to deny the Vaccine than those who prefer free riding AOR 0.31 (95% CI, 0.31, 0.13-0.75, p-value=0.009). Despite insignificant odds, too much politics behind the COVID-19 vaccine influences vaccine hesitancy with AOR 1.14 (95% CI, 0.61-2.15, p-value=0.676).

Conclusion: The study concludes that despite the efforts to communicate public health information to encourage people to overcome vaccine hesitancy and receive Vaccines, the reluctance to get vaccinated against COVID-19 remains higher than the acceptance rate among medical students.