Page 87 - IJPS-10-1

International Journal of
Population Studies Perception and acceptance readiness for COVID-19 vaccine

Table 5. Acceptance readiness for free‑of‑charge COVID‑19 vaccine by sociodemographic characteristics
Variable Ready to be vaccinated if provided free Test statistics p‑value
No n (%) Not sure n (%) Yes n (%)
Sex
Male 41 (27.0) 33 (21.7) 78 (51.3) 4.7 0.09
Female 53 (38.7) 28 (20.4) 56 (40.9)
Marital status
Single 71 (33.0) 46 (21.4) 98 (45.6) 0.3 0.8
Married 24 (31.2) 15 (19.5) 38 (49.3)
Religion
Christianity 79 (35.3) 50 (22.3) 95 (42.4) 3.9 0.4
Islam 3 (17.6) 3 (17.6) 11 (64.8)
Others 1 (50.0) 0 (0.0) 1 (50.0)
Health worker
No 80 (34.2) 47 (20.1) 107 (45.7) 1.5 0.5
Yes 15 (25.9) 14 (24.1) 29 (50.0)
Residence
Rural 8 (53.3) 1 (6.7) 6 (40.0) 5.4 0.3
Semi-urban 12 (24.0) 13 (26.0) 25 (50.0)
Urban 75 (33.0) 47 (20.7) 105 (46.3)
Highest level of education
Secondary school 40 (32.3) 24 (19.3) 60 (48.4) 2.1 0.7
Bachelor/Diploma 31 (33.7) 17 (18.5) 44 (47.8)
Master/Doctoral 23 (30.7) 20 (26.7) 32 (42.6)

authenticity/safety/effectiveness (59.2%), low level of trust Table 6. Reasons for non‑readiness to take COVID‑19
in the government (12.6%), and fear of side effects (10.7%) vaccine
(Table 6).
Reason for non‑readiness to take Frequency Percentage (%)
4. Discussion COVID‑19 vaccine
COVID-19 burden is low/does 5 4.8
The majority of our respondents were single and aged not exist in Nigeria
between 16 and 36 years, affirming that this age group COVID is not serious as portrayed 4 3.9
belongs to the more youthful category that prominently Do not trust government 13 12.6
uses social media (Alonzo et al., 2021; Asibong et al., 2020;
Tayo et al., 2019; Shava & Chinyamurindi, 2018). Regarding Doubt authenticity/safety/ 61 59.2
effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine
the perception on COVID-19 vaccine, our findings
showed that only few had positive perception toward Fear of side effects 12 11.7
COVID-19 vaccine. These findings are consistent with There is no need for 4 3.9
the study conducted in Jordan where public acceptance COVID-19 vaccine
of the vaccines was low (37.4%) (El-Elimat et al., 2021). Personal belief 1 1.0
However, our study contrasted with the study conducted Poor knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine 1 1.0
in Bangladesh where 63% of students exhibited positive No reason 2 1.9
perceptions (Hossain et al., 2021). Conflicting results were
reported from the Arabian and Nepalese populations, in
which high proportions of the surveyed respondents in The level of acceptance readiness for COVID-19 vaccine
Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia (Alamer et al., 2021) and was found to be very low (46.6%) even if the vaccines are
Nepal (Subedi et al., 2021) had positive perceptions and provided free-of-charge and readily accessible. This is in
attitude toward the vaccine. The difference observed resonance with the study conducted in Pakistan where only
in the level of perceptions may be due to population 48.2% agreed to be vaccinated if the vaccines are available
covered, regional diversity, study time, and differences in (Arshad et al., 2021). Similarly, most of the parents (66.1%)
government responsiveness across different states in the in Ankara city, Turkey, were reluctant to be inoculated
country. Also, having low trust in Nigeria government is with foreign COVID-19 vaccines (Yigit et al., 2021). In the
cited as one of the reasons for non-uptake of the vaccine. same vein, a study reported that the COVID-19 hesitancy

Volume 10 Issue 1 (2024) 81 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.364