Vaccine hesitancy against COVID-19 vaccine over time in Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: While COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing threat for our lives, the rapid development of effective vaccines against COVID-19 provided us hopes for manageable disease control. However, vaccine hesitancy across the globe is a concern which could attenuate efforts of disease control. This study examined the extent and trend of vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria. METHODS: The COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey conducted between 2020 and 2021 was used for the analysis. The extent and trend of vaccine hesitancy across different zones within Nigeria, over time, as well as reasons of the hesitancy were evaluated. RESULTS: Vaccine hesitancy was more prevalent in southern zones, which on average have better socioeconomic status than northern zones. Overtime, vaccine hesitancy became more prevalent, and respondents became more resistant to the COVID-19 vaccine across the country. CONCLUSION: While the nature of interventions to improve the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine should differ by regions due to differential barriers to vaccination, it might be important to prebunk and debunk any misinformation related to COVID-19 vaccine to mitigate the vaccine hesitancy across the country.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Trust in Government in Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 has been impacting our lives globally, including in Nigeria. While the COVID-19 vaccine is available free of charge, vaccination coverage remains low. This study evaluates the relationship between trust in government and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. METHODS: We used an Afrobarometer survey for data on trust in government and the COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (NLPS) for data on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, merged by strata (states and urban/rural). The simple correlation was evaluated using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression. RESULTS: Distrust in government was strongly associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy as well as with perceptions that the vaccine was not safe, and concerns about side effects were given as reasons for vaccine refusal. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Distrust of government is an important predictor of vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria. This result is consistent with findings in the literature, especially in developed countries. Vaccine refusers, who distrust the government, refuse vaccines because they think that vaccines do them harm. Policy makers should be cautious when it comes to strategizing for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, especially in places where trust in government is weak.

Pattern of vaccination delivery around COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria.

COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world, including developing countries in various aspects. This pandemic might have severe consequences in terms of population health, especially in places where the health system is already weak. Using the health facility-level data over time, we evaluated the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the vaccination service delivery in Nigeria. The lockdown was announced on March 30, 2020 and was effective until May 4, 2020. Compared to the quantity of vaccinations administered in March 2020, the quantity was significantly reduced during April 2020. The quantity was further reduced during May 2020. However, from June onwards, the quantity of vaccination administered has recovered. We observed that, although the lockdown reduced the quantity of vaccination administered significantly, it quickly recovered soon after the lockdown was relaxed.