Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination at different hypothetical efficacy and safety levels in ten countries in Asia, Africa, and South America

Dott F. Rosiello (Department of Public Health and Infectious Disease, Sapienza-University of Rome, Rome, Italy)
Samsul Anwar (Department of Statistics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia)
Amanda Yufika (Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia)
Rashed Y. Adam (Omdurman Teaching Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan)
Mohajer IH. Ismaeil (Faculty of Medicine, Alzaiem Alazhari University, Khartoum, Sudan)
Asma Y. Ismail (Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Sudan International University, Khartoum, Sudan)
Nesrine BH. Dahman (Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia)
Montacer Hafsi (Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia)
Manel Ferjani (Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia)
Farah S. Sami (Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt)
Fatma A Monib (Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt)
Subramaniam R (Department of Public Health Dentistry, Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Nellikuzhi, Kothamangalam, Kerala, India)
Sunil Anandu (Division of Veterinary Parasitology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Md Ariful Haque (Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Yan’an Hospital Affiliated to Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China)
Lirane ED. Ferreto (Department of Public Health and Postgraduate Program in Applied Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Western Paraná State University, Brazil)
José TO. Aburto (Faculty of Medicine, University of La Frontera, Temuco, Chile)
Jorge ET. Rojas (Faculty of Medicine, University of La Frontera, Temuco, Chile)
Seyi S. Enitan (Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria)
Akele R. Yomi (Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria)
Eyiuche D. Ezigbo (Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences & Technology University of Nigeria, Enugu State Nigeria)
Elham Babadi (Research Fellow, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA)
Edris Kakemam (Iranian Center of Excellence in Health Management, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran)
Najma I. Malik (Department of Psychology, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan)
Irfan Ullah (Department of Internal Medicine, Kabir Medical College, Gandhara University, Peshawar, Pakistan)
Malik Sallam (Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman Jordan Department of Clinical Laboratories and Forensic Medicine, Jordan University Hospital, Amman Jordan Department of Translational )

Narra J
Vol. 1 No. 3 (2021): December 2021

Vaccine hesitancy, defined as the reluctance or rejection in receiving a vaccine despite its availability, represents a major challenge to global health efforts aiming to control the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the possible factors correlated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy using a refined well-informed approach can be helpful to address the phenomenon. The current study aimed to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates using four hypothetical scenarios of varying levels of vaccine efficacy and safety profiles in ten Asian, African and South American countries. These scenarios included: 95% efficacy and 20% side effects (Vaccine A), 75% efficacy and 5% side effects (Vaccine B); 75% efficacy and 20% side effects (Vaccine C) and 50% efficacy and 5% side effects (Vaccine D). This study used a self-administered online survey that was distributed during February–May 2021. The total number of study respondents was 1337 with countries of residence as follows: India (21.1%), Pakistan (12.9%), Sudan (11.2%), Nigeria (9.3%), Iran (8.2%), Bangladesh and Brazil (7.9%), Chile (7.7%), Tunisia (7.6%), and Egypt (6.2%). The overall acceptance rates for COVID-19 vaccination were variable based on varying degrees of safety and efficacy as follows: 55.6% for Vaccine C, 58.3% for Vaccine D, 74.0% for Vaccine A and 80.1% for Vaccine B. The highest levels of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance were observed in Brazil followed by Chile across the four different safety and efficacy scenarios. The lowest COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates were reported in Egypt and Tunisia for the low safety scenarios (20% side effects), and the low efficacy scenario (50% efficacy). The study revealed the potential effect of vaccine safety and efficacy on the intention to get COVID-19 vaccination. At the same efficacy level, higher possibility of side effects caused a large drop in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate. This indicates the importance of accurate communication regarding vaccine safety and efficacy on attitude towards the vaccine and intentions to get vaccinated. Regional differences in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance were observed with the Middle East/North African countries showing the lowest rates and the South American countries displaying the highest vaccine acceptance rates.