Covid 19 Vaccination Perceptions And Uptake Among Health Professionals In Cross River State

The discovery of vaccine against Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID – 19) was considered a breakthrough in the control of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Health professionals as frontline managers of COVID -19 patients were prioritized for vaccination as they were more at risk of the infection and transmission. However, past experience on vaccine production and knowledge of vaccine may influence their perception and uptake of COVID-19 vaccine due to some misconceptions surrounding its production and effectiveness. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge, perception and uptake of COVID - 19 vaccine among health professionals in Cross River State. A descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted to study a sample of 344 health professionals including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and laboratory scientists working in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar. The participants were selected to complete the survey using stratified random sampling technique. Data was collected through a validated and reliable questionnaire structured by the researchers. Using software from the Statistical Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 23) collected data were analysed, while the association between variables was achieved using Chi-square test of association at a 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that majority 256 (74.4%) of the participants had good knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine, while majority 214 (62.2%) had good perception of Covid-19 vaccine, and slightly above half, 196 (57.0%) of the participants had been vaccinated against COVID-19. There is a significant association between; knowledge and uptake of Covid-19 vaccine (Cal = 42.563; p=.000), as well as perception and uptake of COVID-19 vaccine (Cal = 28.204; p=.000) among the participants. The demographic variables significantly associated with uptake of COVID-19 vaccines were; age, marital status, religion, ethnicity, profession, income per month, and years of work experience (p<0.05). However, the proportion of the healthcare professionals in the hospital that have not been vaccinated was relatively high and the associated variables with uptake of the vaccine emphasize the need for intervention that would address the unique concern of each group within the healthcare professionals.