Impact of perceived factors of coronavirus infection on COVID-19 vaccine uptake among healthcare workers in Ghana—Evidence from a cross-sectional analysis

TL;DR

This study examines why healthcare workers in Ghana accepted or rejected the COVID-19 vaccine, finding that factors like vaccine safety perceptions and trust in experts played a key role.

Contribution

The study identifies specific perceived factors influencing vaccine uptake among healthcare workers in Ghana using a cross-sectional analysis.

Findings

84.2% of healthcare workers in the study received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccine uptake was significantly linked to perceived safety, seriousness of infection, and trust in expert recommendations.

AstraZeneca was the most commonly used vaccine among vaccinated participants.

Abstract

Ghana faced acute COVID-19 vaccine uptake rejection after the rollout of the initial dose, thus, posing a risk of not reaching herd immunity as necessary to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease.

In this study, we analysed the impact of perceptions of the COVID-19 infection on COVID-19 vaccine uptake among healthcare workers in the Mampong district of Ghana.

The study was conducted between April 2022 and June 2023 and interviewed 260 respondents using a closed-ended electronic questionnaire in a Google form format. We then analysed for association using a composite outcome response of healthcare workers in Ghana using a multiple logistics regression model. The alpha value was set at p <  0.05 for statistical significance employing statistical software, IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software. The analysis adjusted for independent covariates using respondent medical history, COVID-19 infection status, and sociodemographic characteristics.

Out of the total respondents, 219 (84.2%) took at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of those who took a vaccine, 61.9% took AstraZeneca, followed by Johnson and Johnson (8.5%) and Pfizer BioNTech (6.2%). Vaccine uptake was significantly associated with positive previous vaccination history (p <  0.001), perceived vaccine safety (p <  0.001), perceived seriousness of COVID-19 infection (p < 0.008), and trust in COVID-19 vaccine based on recommendations by experts (p <  0.015).

Previous vaccination history and perceived factors such as vaccine safety, the seriousness of the COVID-19 infection, perceived risk of infection, and trust in expert recommendations influenced vaccine uptake among healthcare workers in Ghana.

Figures