TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 vaccine uptake and associated factors among adolescents and youths
T2 - Findings and implications for future vaccination programmes
AU - Mudenda, Steward
AU - Meyer, Johanna C.
AU - Fadare, Joseph O.
AU - Ogunleye, Olayinka O.
AU - Saleem, Zikria
AU - Matafwali, Scott K.
AU - Daka, Victor
AU - Chabalenge, Billy
AU - Chama, Jacob
AU - Mukosha, Moses
AU - Skosana, Phumzile
AU - Witika, Bwalya A.
AU - Kalungia, Aubrey C.
AU - Hamachila, Audrey
AU - Mufwambi, Webrod
AU - Godman, Brian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Mudenda et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - Adolescents and youths are a key part of the population that needs to be protected against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This is because they are more likely to spread the virus to vulnerable individuals. In view of these concerns, this study investigated the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and associated factors among adolescents and youths attending secondary schools in Zambia. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1500 school-going adolescents in Lusaka from September 2022 to November 2022. Overall, 1409 participants took part giving a response rate of 94%. Only 29.2% (n = 411) of the participants were vaccinated against COVID-19 at the time of the study. Compared to their unvaccinated counterparts, vaccinated adolescents and youths scored higher for knowledge (66.2% vs 57.8%) and attitudes (76.7% vs 39.4%) regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Healthcare workers, family/friends and social media were key sources of information regarding the vaccine. Factors associated with increased vaccine uptake were positive attitudes (AOR = 33.62, 95% CI: 19.92–56.73), indicating it was stressful to follow COVID-19 preventive measures (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.09–1.99), participants in Grade 12 (AOR = 3.39, 95% CI: 1.94–5.91), Grade 11 (AOR = 2.59, 95% CI: 1.94–5.91), Grade 10 (AOR = 3.48, 95% CI: 1.98–6.11) and Grade 9 (AOR = 3.04, 95% CI: 1.74–5.32) compared to Grade 8. This study found a relatively low uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among adolescents and youths in Zambia. There is a need to provide adequate strategies to address knowledge and attitude gaps regarding COVID-19 vaccines to improve uptake and reduce future morbidity and mortality.
AB - Adolescents and youths are a key part of the population that needs to be protected against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This is because they are more likely to spread the virus to vulnerable individuals. In view of these concerns, this study investigated the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and associated factors among adolescents and youths attending secondary schools in Zambia. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1500 school-going adolescents in Lusaka from September 2022 to November 2022. Overall, 1409 participants took part giving a response rate of 94%. Only 29.2% (n = 411) of the participants were vaccinated against COVID-19 at the time of the study. Compared to their unvaccinated counterparts, vaccinated adolescents and youths scored higher for knowledge (66.2% vs 57.8%) and attitudes (76.7% vs 39.4%) regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Healthcare workers, family/friends and social media were key sources of information regarding the vaccine. Factors associated with increased vaccine uptake were positive attitudes (AOR = 33.62, 95% CI: 19.92–56.73), indicating it was stressful to follow COVID-19 preventive measures (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.09–1.99), participants in Grade 12 (AOR = 3.39, 95% CI: 1.94–5.91), Grade 11 (AOR = 2.59, 95% CI: 1.94–5.91), Grade 10 (AOR = 3.48, 95% CI: 1.98–6.11) and Grade 9 (AOR = 3.04, 95% CI: 1.74–5.32) compared to Grade 8. This study found a relatively low uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among adolescents and youths in Zambia. There is a need to provide adequate strategies to address knowledge and attitude gaps regarding COVID-19 vaccines to improve uptake and reduce future morbidity and mortality.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85186353420&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002385
DO - 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002385
M3 - Article
C2 - 37729153
AN - SCOPUS:85186353420
SN - 2767-3375
VL - 3
JO - PLOS Global Public Health
JF - PLOS Global Public Health
IS - 9 September
M1 - e0002385
ER -