Psychosocial Determinants Of Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake Among The Elderly Population In The Ablekuma South Sub-Metropolitan Area.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the population of the elderly (those above the age of ~60 years) has been at a greater risk of serious illness, hospitalization, and death attributable to COVID-19 (Bialek et al., 2020). Currently, vaccination is the recommended preventive measure for COVID-19 pandemic making it essential to identify the psychosocial factors relating to high vaccine acceptance and uptake especially among those who have a greater risk of infectivity. Objective: This study sought to describe the psychosocial factors that influence COVID-19 vaccine uptake among the elderly population in the Ablekuma South Sub-Metropolitan Area. Method: A quantitative cross-sectional strategy with multistage sampling techniques was used. Data collection was done with a structured questionnaire. Results: The COVID-19 vaccine uptake 54.1% and was associated with age, religion, marital status, employment status, educational level, alcohol consumption, previous COVID-19 health event and awareness of ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. 93.3% of the participants received health information by electronic media whiles 24.4% received information by public information vans. Knowledge about COVID-19 and vaccines was generally poor and suggestive of misinformation in the study sample. 25% of participants who were aware of the vaccination campaign received the COVID-19 vaccine. 9.6% of vaccinated persons indicated that they would not recommend the vaccine to a relation. Conclusion: The uptake of COVID-19 vaccines within the study population was not as high as anticipated considering that elderly persons were prioritized in the vaccinations and as high as 93.3% had received information about the vaccinations. This pointed to some barriers to vaccination which were supported by the knowledge level and impact of the information campaigns on COVID-19 vaccine uptake.