Knowledge and Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccine: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study Among Residents of Jinja District Eastern Uganda.

Background: Despite the existence of other public health interventions, vaccination remains a cornerstone in the fight against pandemics. COVID-19 has led to loss of many lives, global economic deteriorations, and unemployment, hence the call for urgent interventions which includes introduction of COVID-19 vaccines.

Aim: The study aimed to assess the level of knowledge and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine among residents of Jinja District, Eastern Uganda.

Method: A population-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 210 participants from Jinja District between 8^th and 21^st October 2021. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using IBM SPSS version 26.

Results: 45.2% of the participants had adequate level of knowledge with a 56.2% COVID-19 vaccine acceptability rate. Highly educated participants were most likely to have adequate knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine than the lowly educated ones (OR= 2.64; 95% CI; 1.32-5.26, P= .006). Having a high level of education (OR=2.7; 95% CI; 1.38-5.10, P= .004) was significantly associated with vaccine acceptability. Farmers and students were less likely to accept COVID-19 vaccine.

Conclusion: The general population of Jinja District demonstrated a low level of adequate knowledge and acceptance towards COVID-19 vaccine. There is need for more public awareness campaigns on the topic using radio and television as means of communication.