Knowledge and attitude towards Second COVID-19 vaccine Dose among health professionals working at public health facilities in a low Income Country

Abstract

Background: Several vaccines have been approved in a lot of countries to combat coronavirus disease and distributed throughout the world. Health professional’s knowledge and attitude towards a second COVID-19 vaccine dose were poorly implemented and understood in Ethiopia's health facilities. The main purpose of conducting this study was to investigate health professionals’ knowledge and attitude towards the second COVID-19 vaccine dose at public hospitals in Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted from January to March, 2021 to assess the knowledge and attitude towards second COVID-19 vaccine dose among health professionals working at public health facilities in Ethiopia. A multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify predictors that correlate with knowledge and attitude towards a second COVID-19 vaccine dose with a P-value<0.05 as a cut-off point for statistical significance at 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Four hundred and nine study subjects participated, with a response rate of 96.7%. In this study, more than half of the respondents had high knowledge towards second COVID-19 vaccine doses. Similarly, 95.6% of respondents had a favorable attitude towards second COVID-19 vaccine doses. Educational status (AOR=1.82, 95% CI=1.1–2.2), age (AOR=2.01, 95% CI=1.76–3.01), and profession (AOR=2.32, 95% CI=1.42–3.01) were variables associated with knowledge towards second COVID-19 vaccine doses. Educational status (AOR=5.42, 95% CI=4.1–6.7), age (AOR=12.4, 95% CI=10.54–15.8), professionals (AOR=4.33, 95% CI=2.32–6.87), working experience (AOR=4.33, 95% CI=2.32–6.87), marital status (AOR=2.47, 95% CI=1.33–5.95), risk degree (AOR=2.33, 95% CI=1.31–4.11) and gender (AOR=3.42, 95% CI=2.91–4.98) were determinant factors of attitude towards the second COVID-19 vaccine dose. Conclusion: Addressing problems related with risk degree, educational status, and socio-demographic factors will help to increase the overall knowledge and attitude towards second COVID-19 vaccine doses.