COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women attending public antenatal clinics in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over six million lives and caused significant morbidities globally. The development and use of COVID-19 vaccines is a key strategy in ending this. There is a general public hesitancy on vaccine uptake, including pregnant women who are at high risk of severe forms of the disease and death when infected with the virus. To determine the magnitude of hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccines and the associated factors among pregnant women attending public antenatal clinics in Dar es Salaam‬. This was a cross-sectional analytical study conducted among 896 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at public health facilities in Dar es Salaam. A structured interviewer-based questionnaire, in an electronic form, was used. The analysis was done by a multivariable linear regression model using STATA 16 to obtain factors associated with vaccine hesitancy, and P < .05 was considered significant. The proportion of pregnant women with vaccine hesitancy was 45%. Hesitancy was higher among unemployed pregnant women (AOR 2.16 (95% CI 1.36–3.42) and the self-employed group (AOR 1.62 (95% CI 1.07–2.44). It was also higher among pregnant women with poor attitudes to COVID-19 vaccines (AOR 2.44 (95% CI 1.75–3.39) and women who had low perceived benefits of the vaccines (AOR 2.57 (95% CI 1.83–3.60). COVID-19 vaccine-targeted interventions should aim at the provision of knowledge on COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccine and address poor attitudes and perceptions that pregnant women have on these vaccines.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• vaccine hesitancy
• pregnant

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the AMNE SALIM COVID-19 Research fund for funding the study, MUHAS Research and publication team for their continuous support, the Ministry of Health, President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government, health facilities administrators for providing permission to conduct research, Regional Health Management Team (RHMT) members for their guidance and support during data collection and lastly we appreciate the support provided by pregnant women who were willing to participate in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

Z. H. Y.: Principal investigator, study design, data collection, data analysis, and manuscript preparation (Lead). F. A. A.: Participated in study design, data analysis, and critical review of the manuscript. F. A. and A. A.: Participated in study design and critical review of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author at the reasonable request

Ethical approval and consent to participate

The ethical clearance for the study was obtained from the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Science (MUHAS) research and publication committee with Ref No MUHAS-REC-09-2022–1364. All participants signed a written consent form.

Implication policy

Successful vaccination coverage can be achieved by sharing information on COVID-19 and its vaccine and addressing myths and misinformation about the vaccine. Moreover, there is a need to maintain transparency regarding the efficacy and shortcomings of vaccines to get public trust and confidence in the vaccine.

Abbreviations

ACOG	=	American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
ANC	=	Ante-Natal Care
CDC	=	Centers for Disease Control and prevention
MNH	=	Muhimbili National Hospital
MUHAS	=	The Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences
RCOG	=	Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
SAGE	=	Strategic Advisory Group of Expert
WHO	=	World Health Organization

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website at https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2023.2269777.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Amne Salim COVID-19 Research Fund. The funding body did not participate in designing the study, data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation.