Appraisal of Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among University Undergraduate Students in South-Eastern Nigeria

Sunday Ogbu, Oluchi Janehilda AGUGOESI, Felicia Chinyere UGWU, Amaka Loretta NWANKWO, Desmon NGWAINMBI, Joshua Enemako AIKOYE

Abstract


The study explored COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among undergraduate students in south-Eastern Nigeria. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. Three research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study comprised of all the second year students in the five federal universities in the South-Eastern Nigeria. The sample size for the study was 11732 students, comprised 5600 males and 6132 females distributed in all the faculties in the five universities. The instrument for data collection was a researcher-developed questionnaire, titled “COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Questionnaire” (CVHQ). The internal consistency of the CVHQ was estimated using Cronbach alpha and reliability coefficient of 0.913 was obtained. The collected data were analysed using mean and standard deviation, t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings of the study revealed, among others, that, there high extent of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the undergraduate students. It was recommended, among others, that Enlightenment campaign in form of workshops, seminars, and conferences should be organized by government for undergraduate students and the general public on the need for acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine.


Keywords


pandemic, COVID-19, vaccine, vaccine hesitancy, education

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Enlightenment campaign in form of workshops, seminars, and conferences should be organized by government for undergraduate students and the general public on the need for acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine

Lecturers in tertiary institutions should be integral part of the enlightenment campaign on COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Government should intensify the use of social media for aggressive COVID-19 vaccination awareness creation and discourage the use of force or intimidation to get the citizen vaccinated.

Government should ensure that religious leaders and community leaders genuinely see and appreciate the reasons to support COVID-19 vaccination programme in Nigeria.

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.52155/ijpsat.v30.2.3889

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