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Global Health Econ Sustain COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Kwara State

As shown in (Table 10), the perception of vaccine safety knowledge of the etiology, transmission, impact, and
is an important determinant in COVID-19 vaccine uptake. control of COVID-19 is expected to increase with an
Out of the participants who believed the vaccine was safe, increased level of education. Hence, individuals with
116 (98%) were likely to get the vaccine, while 18 (62.1%) higher education levels are more likely to be informed and
of those who perceived that it was not safe at all were likely motivated to protect themselves through vaccination.
to get the vaccine. Participants who did not believe that
the vaccine was safe were more unlikely to get the vaccine 4.2. Impact of health-care professional
(34.5%) than those who believed that it was very safe recommendation on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance
(1.7%). The test of significance (p = 0.000) between vaccine In this study, a significant proportion of respondents (85%)
safety perception and vaccine acceptance, based on total expressed positive acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine if
values, was also reported. it was recommended by health-care professionals. Despite
being health-care workers, the respondents agreed that a
4. Discussion recommendation from fellow colleagues or other health-

4.1. Relationship between education level and care workers positively influenced their choices regarding
COVID-19 vaccine acceptance the COVID-19 vaccination. This aligns with the findings of
Shekhar et al. (2021), which reported a high level of trust
The findings of this study revealed a significant relationship among respondents in the recommendations of health-
between education and COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, care workers, despite lower levels of trust in regulatory
with education having an overall impact of 86.9% on authorities and the government.
vaccine acceptance. Specifically, the level of education
directly influenced individuals’ decisions regarding The health-care workers in this study largely agreed
vaccine acceptance, with higher levels of education that recommendations from their colleagues have a
correlating with increased vaccine acceptance rates. For positive impact on their own COVID-19 vaccine behavior,
instance, individuals with graduate-level education were suggesting that they also contribute to shaping the public’s
more likely to accept the vaccine compared to those with behavior toward vaccine acceptance. According to Li et al.
primary school-level education. Similar findings have been (2021), recommendations from health-care workers act
reported in previous studies, where vaccine acceptance as a facilitator for vaccine acceptance among the public,
increased with higher educational levels and reduced a sentiment supported by other studies emphasizing the
influential role of health-care workers in gaining public
with lower educational levels (Afifi et al., 2021; Lin et al., trust for health interventions such as vaccination (Wang
2020; King et al., 2021). In addition, Humer et al. (2021) et al., 20220; Reiter et al., 2020; Goldman et al., 2020).
observed a higher willingness to accept the COVID-19 The study indicates the importance of health-care workers
vaccine among educated adolescents compared to their in promoting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, as their
less educated counterparts of the same age.
willingness to accept the vaccine themselves correlates
The increasing willingness to accept the COVID-19 with their likelihood of recommending it to others. This
vaccine with increased levels of education can be attributed highlights health-care workers as crucial channels that
to increased knowledge, exposure, and understanding, may be utilized to stimulate improved vaccine acceptance
which increase with each level of education. Furthermore, in Kwara State.

Table 10. Relationship between vaccine safety perception and vaccine acceptance
Perceived safety Willingness to receive COVID‑19 vaccine Total
of receiving Do not Somewhat Somewhat Very likely/ Very unlikely/ Total Total likely to Total unlikely Total
COVID‑19 know likely unlikely definitely definitely participants get vaccine to get vaccine undecided
vaccine would get would not get examined (N [%]) (N [%]) (N [%])
the vaccine the vaccine
Do not know/ 3 14 15 2 2 36 16 (44.4%) 17 (47.2%) 3 (8.3%)
won’t say
Not safe at all 1 4 9 14 1 29 18 (62.1%) 10 (34.5%) 1 (3.4%)
Mostly safe 3 108 3 66 3 183 174 (95.1%) 6 (3.3%) 3 (1.6%)
Very safe 0 37 2 79 0 118 116 (98.3%) 2 (1.7%) 0 (0.00)
Total 7 163 29 161 6 366 324 (88.5%) 35 (9.6%) 7 (1.9%)
Notes: Chi-square=151.099; df=12; P=0.000.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 7 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2462