Knowledge and Attitude Towards Second COVID-19 Vaccine Dose Among Health Professionals Working at Public Health Facilities in a Low Income Country

Abstract

Background

Several vaccines have been approved in a lot of countries to combat coronavirus disease and distributed throughout the world. Health professional’s knowledge and attitude towards a second COVID-19 vaccine dose were poorly implemented and understood in Ethiopia's health facilities. The main purpose of conducting this study was to investigate health professionals’ knowledge and attitude towards the second COVID-19 vaccine dose at public hospitals in Ethiopia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study design was conducted from January to March, 2021 to assess the knowledge and attitude towards second COVID-19 vaccine dose among health professionals working at public health facilities in Ethiopia. A multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify predictors that correlate with knowledge and attitude towards a second COVID-19 vaccine dose with a P-value<0.05 as a cut-off point for statistical significance at 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results

Four hundred and nine study subjects participated, with a response rate of 96.7%. In this study, more than half of the respondents had high knowledge towards second COVID-19 vaccine doses. Similarly, 95.6% of respondents had a favorable attitude towards second COVID-19 vaccine doses. Educational status (AOR=1.82, 95% CI=1.1–2.2), age (AOR=2.01, 95% CI=1.76–3.01), and profession (AOR=2.32, 95% CI=1.42–3.01) were variables associated with knowledge towards second COVID-19 vaccine doses. Educational status (AOR=5.42, 95% CI=4.1–6.7), age (AOR=12.4, 95% CI=10.54–15.8), professionals (AOR=4.33, 95% CI=2.32–6.87), working experience (AOR=4.33, 95% CI=2.32–6.87), marital status (AOR=2.47, 95% CI=1.33–5.95), risk degree (AOR=2.33, 95% CI=1.31–4.11) and gender (AOR=3.42, 95% CI=2.91–4.98) were determinant factors of attitude towards the second COVID-19 vaccine dose.

Conclusion

Addressing problems related with risk degree, educational status, and socio-demographic factors will help to increase the overall knowledge and attitude towards second COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• health professionals
• attitude
• second vaccine dose
• knowledge
• Ethiopia

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mettu University College of health sciences for the approval of ethical clearance.

Abbreviations

CI, confidence interval; COR, crude odds ratio; AOR, adjusted odds ratio; MoH, Ministry of Health; WHO, World Health Organization.

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study will be available upon request from the corresponding author.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The study protocol was reviewed and approved board of Mettu University and Informed consent was obtained from each study participant. The participants consent included publication of anonymous responses and this study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed to data analysis, drafting or revising the article, have agreed on the journal to which the article will be submitted, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in this work.