According to a report on a study on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy done in 39 districts across the nation with a sample size of 780 people, 31% of respondents said they would not get the vaccination because they lacked confidence in the vaccine's safety.
In addition, just 0.6% of respondents claimed they had chosen not to get vaccinated because of their religious convictions, despite the fact that some respondents (15.6%) indicated they were unsure about the vaccine's long-term adverse effects.
even though
Rationale
The purpose of the survey was to learn more about the level of vaccination hesitancy in each of the districts where it was conducted.
The survey was supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office and carried out by the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) under its COVID-19 and institutional capacity building (CRIB) program. Through bolstering Ghana's health systems and ensuring the continued provision of vital healthcare services, the FCDO aimed to assist the government in responding to COVID-19.
The North-East and Savannah areas showed high percentages of vaccination acceptance, whereas the Northern and Western regions had the lowest rates.
The report said that the Ahafo and Greater Accra areas "showed very significant initial reluctance and may be related to the fact that Ahafo was the last region to register a COVID-19 case in Ghana, while Greater Accra had a preponderance of disinformation."
Informational source for COVID-19
The study also found that local radio and television, followed by social media, were the main information sources for vaccination acceptors.
As opposed to that, "the majority of individuals who are reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine choose television and radio as information sources.
"We discovered that among those who were not immunized, family and friends ranked as the second most common source of information. To overcome vaccination reluctance, it is assumed that risk communication must target family and friends, it read.
Target
The study used a standard questionnaire modified from the UNICEF and USAID COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy data collection instrument. According to the paper, "39 of the 40 targeted CRIB districts in Ghana's 15 administrative regions were the subject of this survey.
It said that "the survey addressed persons aged 15 and above who were residing in the 39 districts at the time of the study."
It stated that out of the 780 respondents, 420, or 54%, were female, while the remaining 46% were male. It also stated that there were more female respondents than male respondents across all age categories.
The study claims that information was gathered in-person using a structured questionnaire that was administered using a data collection toolkit.
An open-source tool for mobile data collection is called a "Kobo Toolbox."
Measures
The research suggested, among other things, that essential communicators for the COVID-19 education should be family and friends, noting that "local television, radio, and WhatsApp should be employed as the communication medium for COVID-related education since they are favored by the majority."
It acknowledged that the CRIB initiative made a significant improvement in the uptake of vaccines in the areas that benefited from the project, increasing the acceptance rate to 78 percent, which was greater than the country's average of 53.2%.
Dr. James Duah, CHAG's deputy executive director, said that with FCDO assistance, "we intended to contribute to meeting the national aim of immunizing 20 million eligible Ghanaians.
He said that in order to address the concerns through education at the home level, in communities, churches, mosques, and schools, "we needed to recognize and comprehend vaccine hesitancy and the causes for the reluctance in order to participate effectively in the national immunisation."
More immunisation
It exhorted the CRIB initiative to keep working to guarantee that the nation met its goal of vaccinating 20 million people.
According to the research, 22% of individuals were still on the fence and encouraged further education.
In order to persuade more people to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, the report stressed that "the education must target family and friends, who are important influencers in altering the mindsets of hesitant persons to vaccinate."
blogpay
Total Comments: 0