Attitudes towards receiving COVID-19 vaccine and its associated factors among Southwest Ethiopian adults, 2021

INTRODUCTION: Many countries around the world are still affected by the global pandemic of coronavirus disease. The vaccine is the most effective method of controlling Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, attitudes toward vaccination are heavily affected by different factors besides vaccine availability. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine community attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine in Gurage Zone, Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from November 15(th) to December 15(th), 2021. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 364 participants in the study area. An interview-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect the data; the data was entered into Epidata 3.1 version, and then exported to SPSS version 23 for further analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the characteristics of study participants. Binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses with a p-value of less than 0.05 were used as a measure of significance. RESULTS: In this study, 44.7% of study participants had a favorable attitude toward the COVID-19 vaccine. Perceived potential vaccine harm [AOR: 1.85; 95% CI (1.15–2.96)], Having ever had a chronic disease [AOR: 3.22; 95% CI (2.02–5.14)], community belief on the effectiveness of the vaccine [AOR: 2.02; 95% CI (1.27–3.22)], and average monthly income 3001–5000 ETB [AOR: 0.54; 95% CI (0.30–0.97)], average monthly income 5001–10000 ETB [AOR: 0.48; 95% CI(0.27–0.86)] were statistically significantly towards COVID-19 vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, less than half of the participants had a favorable attitude toward the COVID-19 vaccine. Perceived potential vaccine harm, having ever had a chronic disease, community belief in the effectiveness of the vaccine, and average monthly income were determinant factors of the community’s attitude toward COVID-19 vaccination. As a result, information conversation with the community’s awareness of the COVID-19 vaccination in reducing vaccine-related suspicion.