Abstract
BACKGROUND: Vaccines against COVID-19 are critical for preventing and managing COVID-19 because immunization is one of the most active and cost-effective health strategies for infectious disease prevention. Knowing the community's willingness and factors affecting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance will support the design of effective promotion strategies. Therefore, this study was aimed at assessing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and its determinants among the Ambo Town community. METHOD: A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted using structured questionnaires from 1 to 28 February 2022. Four kebeles were selected randomly, and the systematic random sampling procedure was used to select the households. SPSS-25 software was used for data analysis. Ethical approval was received from the Institutional Review Committee of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences of Ambo University, and data were kept confidential. RESULT: Of the 391 participants, 385 (98.5%) of the respondents were not vaccinated for COVID-19, and around 126 (32.2%) of the respondents said that they would receive the vaccine if the government provided it. The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that males were 1.8 times more likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.074-3.156) as compared to females. The acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine was lower by 60% in those who tested for COVID-19 as compared to those who were not tested (AOR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.27-0.69). Moreover, the participants who had chronic diseases were two times more likely to accept the vaccine. Acceptance of the vaccine was reduced by half among those who believed that there was a scarcity of data on its safety (AOR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.26-0.80). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination acceptance was low. To enhance the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine, the government and different stakeholders should strengthen public education using mass media about the advantages of getting the COVID-19 vaccination.