Determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake and barriers to being vaccinated among first-round eligibles for COVID-19 vaccination in Eastern Ethiopia: A community based cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease is a deadly virus that continues to afflict many countries worldwide. Ethiopia has planned to give vaccines to 20% of the population by March 2022. This study aimed to assess determinants of vaccine uptake and barriers to being vaccinated among first-round eligibles for coronavirus disease vaccination in Harar, eastern Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 820 randomly selected coronavirus disease first-round eligible groups in Harar from August 20 to September 15, 2021. Descriptive summary statistics were done. Logistic regression analyses were computed to identify associations between dependent and independent variables. Variables with a p value of <0.05 were declared statistically significant. RESULT: Out of 820, only 39.4% of participants took the coronavirus disease vaccine. The main barriers to being vaccinated were, belief vaccine has no use (24%), and belief vaccine causes blood clots (17.9%). Being a merchant (adjusted odds ratio: 7.9, 95% confidence interval: 2.6, 24), people who had no schooling (adjusted odds ratio: 2.5, 95% confidence interval: 1.3, 4.9), having attitude below the mean score (adjusted odds ratio: 2.1, 95% confidence interval: 1.4, 2.8), having coronavirus disease prevention practice above the mean score (adjusted odds ratio: 2.1, 95% confidence interval: 1.4, 2.8), and family size < 5 members (adjusted odds ratio: 0.64, 95% confidence interval: 0.4, 0.9) were found to be significantly associated with coronavirus disease vaccination. CONCLUSION: Overall, coronavirus disease-19’s first-round vaccination status was low. The number of people vaccinated was higher among 50–60 age groups than those who are >60 years. Being female, being a person with no schooling, being a merchant, being a farmer, and having low coronavirus disease prevention practice was found to be significantly associated with coronavirus disease vaccination. We recommend that the Federal Ministry of Health, Harari Regional Health Bureau, and other concerned stakeholders should work more diligently to provide continued campaigning on coronavirus disease vaccination and better vaccine awareness creation, as this is the only way out of this epidemic.