Awareness, perceptions and acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine in South-eastern Nigeria

Effective planning and sustainable implementation of vaccination activities require a good understanding of how much a population is aware, perceives and willing to accept the vaccines. A cross-sectional study was carried out between February 22 to April 14, 2021, which assessed 400 participants to ascertain their level of awareness, perception and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine in south-eastern Nigeria. Data was collected using a structured pre-tested questionnaire and analysed using IBM-SPSS statistics version 21. The mean age of the participants was 36.15 years. About 4% of the participants had tested positive for COVID-19 and 12.5% had a perceived experience of COVID-19 without a test. Overall, 53.5% of the participants had a positive perception of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 55.5% accepted the COVID-19 vaccine. A significant association was not found between awareness and the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine (X 2 = 1.071, p =0.475). No statistical relationship was established between perception of the COVID-19 vaccine and the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine (X 2 =0.024, p = 0.877). Factors including awareness about the vaccine, economic and social status as well as high literacy level may have contributed to the acceptance of the vaccine among study participants. Major concerns relating to vaccine hesitancy were related to the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. There is a need for continuous public health enlightenment and sensitization on vaccine safety, effectiveness, availability and accessibility by involving all stakeholders in the communities in order to achieve a safe population.