A study conducted by the University of Southampton in collaboration with the PACKS Africa has shown that 71.4 per cent of Ghanaians are eager to take the COVID-19 vaccines if made available to them.
According to the survey, although the number of Ghanaians willing to take the COVID-19 jabs was relatively high, it deteriorated from an earlier version of the same study conducted in March 2021, which showed that about 82.4 per cent of Ghanaians were willing to be vaccinated.
The survey also found that 28.6 per cent of Ghanaians were still undecided or unwilling to be vaccinated against the virus when given the opportunity – 15.1 per cent undecided and 13.5 per cent unintentional.
“This was an increase in the hesitancy of 11.4% from the March survey when we observed 17.2% hesitancy,” it added
On the reasons for the vaccine hesitancy, the report said more than half (50.6 per cent) of those who were hesitant to take the jab attributed their indecision or unwillingness to inadequate information.
Some Ghanaians were either undecided or unwilling to take the vaccine because they believe the vaccines were dangerous and could harm or even kill them.
Like the previous survey conducted in March, the current survey showed that religious belief was a critical factor in predicting vaccine hesitancy. Christians were two times likelier to be either unwilling or undecided to take the vaccine compared to Muslims.
The survey also found that level of educational attainment may be a primary factor of vaccine hesitancy in Ghana. The odds of expressing vaccine hesitancy were 1.60 times higher for university-educated Ghanaians than their lower educated counterparts (those who had achieved higher secondary or lower).
It added that residents of urban communities were more likely to hesitate to get vaccinated when the opportunity is given compared to folks in rural communities. Also, females were more likely to express vaccine hesitancy compared to males.
According to the study, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) appeared to be a trusted source because it was more likely for people who got their vaccine-related information from the service to accept the vaccine.
Therefore, it recommended that the staff of the GHS, including community healthcare workers in rural areas, be educated help to counter misinformation present in different demographics to reduce vaccines among citizens.
Ishmael Batoma, ISD
