Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Amongst Non-Governmental Organization Employees in Harae, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy is one of the top ten threats of any public health vaccination program. Zimbabwe is grappling in reaching its vaccination targets because of increasing vaccine hesitancy due to conspiracies associated with the vaccine and need support from civil society. Thus, this study aimed at determining factors associated with vaccine hesitancy amongst NGO employees in Harare. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 224 participants using a standard questionnaire. Of the 224 participants, 33% were hesitant whilst 11% were not sure. Those hesitant opted for steaming (32%) and traditional herbs (12%). The ones willing to vaccinate were mostly driven by valuing their health (48%), important in saving dependents health (52%) and to control COVI-19 (45%). History of vaccination (AOR 5.08 95%CI 2.44-10.9), medical profession (AOR 1.17, 95%CI 1.04 – 1.37) and exposure to COVID-19 (AOR 14,7) were socio-demographic factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. Sub-optimal uptake of the vaccine maybe driven by lack of confidence in vaccines safety (91%), effectiveness (87%), side effects (91%), lack of trust on service providers (86%) and lack of confidence on facilities capacity to manage side effects (45%). (85%) prefer a single shot and they are six times more likely to vaccinate compared to those who opt for two or more injections (AOR 6.26; 95%CI 2.44 – 18.92). Choice of vaccine was found to be statistically significant with more respondents opting for Pfizer (p<0.001), Johnson and Johnson (p<0.001) compared to Sinovac (13%; p= 0.098). Fifty-seven (57%) believe that the vaccine will affect menstrual cycle for women, whilst 55% believe it may cause infertility. Majority of respondents not willing to take up the vaccine rely heavily on social media (49%) as a source of COVID-19 vaccine information. Vaccine hesitancy is relatively high amongst NGO professionals. Based on this study, government of Zimbabwe need to work with civil society in designing a robust vaccination program.