Attitude and awareness towards COVID-19 vaccines among higher education institutions students in Dar es Salaam Tanzania

Abstract

Sub-Saharan healthcare systems faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to more developed countries due to limited infrastructure and funding. This vulnerability, combined with vaccine hesitancy among the public and healthcare professionals (HCPs), exacerbated the spread of infection. The primary outcome of this study was COVID-19 vaccination uptake and the secondary outcomes included awareness attitude, and vaccine hesitancy. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from June to September 2023. Using simple random selection, one health-related and one non-health-related Higher Education Institution (HEI) were chosen, and students were then recruited through convenience sampling until sample size was achieved. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 208 health-related and 233 non-health-related HEI students totaling to 431 students. COVID-19 vaccination rates were low, with 16.8% of health-related and 12.6% of non-health-related HEI students vaccinated. Health-related students were five times more likely lack awareness of COVID-19 vaccination compared to their counterparts (OR:5.04, 95% CI: 2.21-11.501; p < 0.001). Belief in COVID-19 as a real disease (OR:0.16, 95% CI:0.08–0.32; p < 0.001), and rejection of the vaccine as a political scheme (OR:0.21, 95% CI: 0.11–0.40; p < 0.001) reduced the likelihood of a poor attitude toward vaccination. Non-health-related students were twice as likely to exhibit vaccine hesitancy compared to health-related students (OR:2.14, 95% CI:1.12–4.09; p = 0.02). Factors such as distrust in government information (OR:14.33, 95% CI:6.82–30.11; p < 0.001) significantly increased vaccine hesitancy. Future vaccination campaigns in Tanzania should prioritize education alongside vaccine outreach to improve awareness and reduce hesitancy, particularly among health-related who may influence public vaccine acceptance.