preprints.org > public health and healthcare > public health and health services > doi: 10.20944/preprints202402.1758.v1

Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 29 February 2024 / Approved: 29 February 2024 / Online: 1 March 2024 (08:19:57 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 5 March 2024 / Approved: 5 March 2024 / Online: 6 March 2024 (07:19:44 CET)

Vaccine hesitancy is one of the greatest health issues worldwide. The recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was marked by substantial levels of vaccine hesitancy, especially in low- and middle-income countries. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its enablers would shape community uptake of non-covid vaccines such as oral cholera vaccine (OCV) in the post-covid era. This study assessed the impact of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its drivers on OCV hesitancy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We conducted a community cross-sectional survey from 1st to 31st March 2022 in Bukavu, South-Kivu, eastern DRC. The survey included characteristics, intention to take OCV and COVID-19 when available, reasons for COVID-19 hesitancy, and thinking and feeling about COVID-19 vaccines. Poisson regression analyses were performed. Of the 1708 respondents, median age 38 years (interquartile range, 26-54), 54.34% males, 84.66% and 77.57% were hesitant to take OCV alone or both OCV and COVID-19, respectively. Being hesitant to COVID-19 increased by 12% the likelihood of being hesitant to OCV (crude prevalence ratio, [cPR]=1.12, 95%CI[1.03-1.21]). Independent sociodemographic predictors of OCV hesitancy were living in semi-urban areas (adjusted PR[aPR]=1.10, 95%CI[1.03-1.12]) and religious acceptance of vaccines (aPR=1.06, 95%CI[1.02-1.12]). Further, concern about safety (aPR=1.05, 95%CI[1.01-1.11]), effects (aPR=1.06, 95%CI[1.01-1.12]), and poor knowledge (aPR=1.07, 95%CI[1.01-1.14]). COVID-19 vaccines significantly increased the likelihood of OCV hesitancy, whereas thinking that COVID-19 could be prevented by vaccination reduced the odds of hesitancy by about 24% (aPR=0.76, 95%CI[0.62-0.93]). In this cholera endemic region, we found a high rate of OCV with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its drivers exhibiting a significant domino effect on the uptake of OCV. Addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and misinformation through community-based health literacy interventions would likely improve the introduction of novel non-COVID-19 vaccines in COVID-19 endemic era.

non-COVID-19 vaccine; Vibrio cholerae; Misinformation; South Kivu; Immunization

Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services

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