Willingness to Take COVID-19 Vaccine Among People Most at Risk of Exposure in Southern Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1 Socio-Demographic Background of Respondents

Variables	Categories	Frequency (%)
Sex	Male	220(69%)
	Female	99(31%)
Occupation	University instructor	92(28.8%)
	Primary/secondary school teacher	105(32.9%)
	Bank employee	122(38.2%)
Educational status	College diploma	40(12.5%)
	BA/BSc degree	156(48.9%)
	MA/MSc degree	113(35.4%)
	PhD or above	10(3.1%)
Marital status	Never married	98(30.7%)
	Married	217(68%)
	Divorced	4(1.3%)
Do you have any chronic illness (cardiac arrest, hypertension, diabetes, etc.)	Yes	33(10.3%)
	No	286(89.7%)
Do you believe that COVID-19 really exists in Ethiopia?	Yes	249(78.1%)
	No	70(21.9%)
Do you believe that COVID-19 really exists in Wolaita Sodo town (study area)?	Yes	221(69.3%)
	No	98(30.7%)
Do you think the prevalence and death rate reports of COVID-19 by the government are real?	Yes	125(39.2%)
	No	194(60.8%)
Do you have a close relative or friend ever infected by COVID-19?	Yes	55(17.2%)
	No	264(82.8%)
Do you have a close relative or friend died of COVID-19?	Yes	22(6.9%)
	No	297(93.1%)
Do you believe that you are at a higher risk of being infected by COVID-19?	Yes	172(53.9%)
	No	147(46.1%)
	Total	319(100%)

Table 2 Frequency Distribution of Respondents in Terms of Their Willingness to Take COVID-19 Vaccine

Variables/Questions	Categories	Frequency (%)
Will you take COVID-19 vaccine if it is freely provided by the government?	Yes	147(46.1%)
	No	172(53.9%)
	Total	319(100%)
When do you like to take the vaccine?	As soon as possible	72(48.9%)
	After its safety is confirmed	75(51.1%)
	Total	147(100%)
Will you take COVID-19 other than AstraZeneca?	Yes	124 (38.9%)
	No, I do not like to take any kind of COVID-19 vaccine	195(61.1%)
	Total	319(100%)

Table 3 Frequency Distribution of Reasons for Hesitancy to Take the Vaccine

Reasons for Vaccine Hesitancy	Responses		Percent of Cases
	N	Percent
I am concerned about the safety and/or the side effects	134	37.0%	75.3%
I believe that I have adequate natural immunity	24	6.6%	13.5%
I am concerned because I do not think the vaccine will be effective	75	20.7%	42.1%
I believe that I am not exposed to the disease	2	0.6%	1.1%
I believe that I can easily withstand the illness if infected by the disease	16	4.4%	9.0%
I do not think I will need the vaccine due to previous infection, health status or age	3	0.8%	1.7%
I am against vaccines in general	17	4.7%	9.6%
Lack of adequate information	46	12.7%	25.8%
Reasons related to belief or religion	19	5.2%	10.7%
I believe that other non-vaccine preventive mechanisms are sufficient	13	3.6%	7.3%
Covid-19 is not that serious concern in my work or residential area	7	1.9%	3.9%
Other reasons	6	1.7%	3.4%
Total	362	100.0%	203.4%

Table 4 Respondents’ Perception About the Kind of Person That Needs COVID-19 Vaccine

QuestionCategories of Responses		Responses		Percent of Cases
		N	Percent
What kind of person/s do you think need COVID-19 vaccine?	Everyone	162	33.0%	50.8%
	People with high risk of exposure to the disease	90	18.3%	28.2%
	Elderlies	64	13.0%	20.1%
	People with other health complications	62	12.6%	19.4%
	People naturally having weaker immune system	45	9.2%	14.1%
	I do not know	54	11.0%	16.9%
	Others	14	2.9%	4.4%
Total		491	100.0%	153.9%

Table 5 Descriptive Statistics of Attitude Towards COVID-19 Vaccines

Statements	Mean	SD
I will not be taking Covid-19 vaccine unless I am compelled by law	2.4	1.14
Taking other protective measures is much better than taking COVID-19 vaccine	2.8	1.09
Covid-19 is not such a serious disease that it does not require vaccine	2.1	1.03
I believe that the side effects of Covid-19 vaccine outweigh its immunizing advantages	2.5	1.11
It is better to be infected by COVID-19 than taking the vaccine	1.9	1.03
Aggregated statistic	2.3	0.77

Table 6 Likert Scale Statistics of Respondents’ Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccine

Statements	Strongly Agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
I will not be taking Covid-19 vaccine until it becomes compulsory by law	81(25.4%)	115(36.1%)	35(11%)	88(27.6%)
Taking other protective measures is much better than taking COVID-19 vaccine	45(14.1%)	83(26%)	67(21%)	124(38.9%)
Covid-19 is not such a serious disease that it does not require vaccine	90(28.2%)	132(41.4%)	41(12.9%)	56(17.6%)
I believe that the side effects of Covid-19 vaccine outweigh its immunizing advantages	67(21%)	111(34.8%)	51(16%)	90(28.2%)
It is better to be infected by COVID-19 than taking the vaccine	141(44.2%)	113(35.4%)	19(6%)	46(14.4%)

Table 7 Logistic Regression Estimates of Factors Associated with Willingness to Take a COVID-19 Vaccine

Variables	Categories	Will You Take Covid-19 Vaccine if it is freely Provided by the Government?			Logistic Regression Test Statistics
		Yes	No	Total	OR	95% CI	P value
Sex	Male	102	118	220	1.023	0.545–1.919	0.945
	Female	45	54	99
Occupation	Bank employee	53	69	122	1.147	0.501–2.623	0.746
	Primary/sec. school teacher	51	54	105
	University instructor	43	49	92
Marital status	Never married	47	51	98	10.641	0.825–137.305	0.070
	Married	97	120	217
	Divorced	3	1	4
Educational status	Diploma	30	10	40	0.326	0.045–2.347	0.266
	BA/BSc Degree	58	98	156
	MA/MSc Degree	53	60	113
	PhD & above	6	4	10
Do you believe that COVID-19 really exists in Ethiopia?	Yes	134	115	249	1.665	0.506–5.477	0.401
	No	13	57	70
Do you believe that COVID-19 really exists in Wolaita Sodo town (study area)?	Yes	129	92	221	0.221**	0.083–0.589	0.003
	No	18	80	98
Do you think the prevalence and death rate reports of COVID-19 by the government are real?	Yes	82	43	125	0.365**	0.197–0.676	0.001
	No	65	129	194
Do you have a close relative or friend ever infected by COVID-19?	Yes	29	26	55	2.602*	1.117–6.063	0.027
	No	118	146	264
	No	44	103	147
Do you have any chronic disease?	Yes	12	21	33	2.883*	1.039–7.999	0.042
	No	135	151	286
Do you have a close relative or friend who died of COVID-19?	Yes	13	9	22	0.696	0.217–2.235	0.542
	No	134	163	297
Do you believe that you are at a higher risk of being infected by Covid-19?	Yes	103	69	172	0.524	0.263–1.046	0.067
	No	44	103	147
Age					0.950	0.897–1.007	0.085
Attitude towards COVID-19 vaccine					2.830***	1.834–4.368	0.000

Note: Predicted probability for the ORs above is based on membership for “no”. *** P<0.001, **P<0.01, *P<0.05.

Abbreviations: OR, odd ratio; CI, confidence interval.