Epidemiology of the Acceptance of Anti COVID-19 Vaccine in Urban and Rural Settings in Cameroon

Cecile Ingrid Djuikoue; Rodrigue Kamga Wouambo; Majeste Mbiada Pahane; Blaise Demanou Fenkeng; Cedric Seugnou Nana; Joelle Djamfa Nzenya; Flore Fotso Kamgne; Cedric Ngalani Toutcho; Benjamin D Thumamo Pokam; Teke Apalata

doi:10.3390/vaccines11030625

Epidemiology of the Acceptance of Anti COVID-19 Vaccine in Urban and Rural Settings in Cameroon

Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Mar 10;11(3):625. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11030625.

Authors

Cecile Ingrid Djuikoue^{1

2

3}, Rodrigue Kamga Wouambo^{2

3

4}, Majeste Mbiada Pahane⁵, Blaise Demanou Fenkeng⁶, Cedric Seugnou Nana^{1

2}, Joelle Djamfa Nzenya^{1

2}, Flore Fotso Kamgne⁶, Cedric Ngalani Toutcho^{1

2}, Benjamin D Thumamo Pokam⁷, Teke Apalata⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Université des Montagnes, Bangangte BP 208, Cameroon.
² Foundation Prevention and Control, Bangangte BP 208, Cameroon.
³ American Association of Microbiology (ASM), ASM Cameroon, Bangangte P.O. Box 222, Cameroon.
⁴ Division of Hepatology, Department of Medicine II, Leipzig University Medical Center, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany.
⁵ Institute of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Douala, Douala P.O. Box 24157, Cameroon.
⁶ Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Douala, Douala Box 24157, Cameroon.
⁷ Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Buea P.O. Box 24157, Cameroon.
⁸ Faculty of Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha 5117, South Africa.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly evolved in December 2019 and to prevent its spread, effective vaccines were produced and made available to the population. Despite their availability so far in Cameroon, the vaccination coverage remains low. This study aimed at describing the epidemiology of the acceptance of vaccines against COVID-19 in some urban and rural areas of Cameroon. A cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical survey was conducted from March 2021 to August 2021 targeting unvaccinated individuals from urban and rural area. After receiving appropriate administrative authorizations and an ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Board (or Ethics Committee) of Douala University (N° 3070CEI-Udo/05/2022/M), a cluster sampling at many degrees was performed and a language-adapted questionnaire was completed by each consenting participant. Data were analyzed using Epi info version 7.2.2.6 software and for p-values < 0.05, the difference was considered as statistically significant. Out of 1053 individuals, 58.02% (611/1053) participants were residing in urban and 41.98% (442/1053) in rural areas. Good knowledge relative to COVID-19 was significantly higher in urban areas as compared to rural areas (97.55% vs. 85.07, p < 0.000). The proportion of respondents who intended to accept the anti COVID-19 vaccine was significantly higher in urban areas than rural areas (42.55% vs. 33.26, p = 0.0047). Conversely, the proportion of anti COVID-19 reluctant respondents thinking that the vaccine can induce a disease was significantly higher in rural areas than urban areas (54 (35.07 vs. 8.84, p < 0.0001). The significant determinants of anti-COVID-19 acceptance were the level of education (p = 0.0001) and profession in the rural areas (p ≤ 0.0001), and only the profession (p = 0.0046) in the urban areas. This study globally showed that anti-COVID-19 vaccination remains a major challenge in urban as well as rural areas in Cameroon. We should continue sensitizing and educating the population about vaccine importance in preventing the COVID-19 spread.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cameroon; acceptance; epidemiology; rural area; urban area; vaccination.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.