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. 2021 Jul 8;105(3):713-717.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0231.

Public Willingness and Hesitancy to Take the COVID-19 Vaccine in Afghanistan

Arash Nemat  1   2 , Ayesha Bahez  1 , Mohibullah Salih  1 , Nahid Raufi  3   4 , Noor Ahmad Shah Noor  5 , Mohammad Yasir Essar  5   6 , Ehsanullah Ehsan  7 , Abdullah Asady  1
Affiliations

Public Willingness and Hesitancy to Take the COVID-19 Vaccine in Afghanistan

Arash Nemat et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. .

Abstract

COVID-19 has been causing a global threat to almost all countries for more than one year. Vaccination of the majority of any country's population is considered to be an effective way of controlling the spread and mortality of this infection. Therefore, it is important to assess the public's willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In this study, we evaluated the public willingness and hesitancy to take the vaccine in Afghanistan, during December 2020 and January 2021. Sociodemographic data, awareness on vaccine production, vaccine availability, willingness and hesitancy to take the COVID-19 vaccine were collected. The Statistical Package for Social Studies (SPSS) version 25 was used for data analysis. A total of 806 complete responses were received. Majority of the respondents were ≤ 40 years old (89.8%) and male (72.7%). Less than two-thirds (509; 63%) of the participants reported willingness to take the vaccine when it becomes available, whereas almost one-third (297; 37%) of them were hesitant to take the COVID-19 vaccine. More female than male respondents were willing to take the vaccine (χ2 = 13.176, P value = 0.001). A significant portion of the public were not willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. In a country like Afghanistan, which already has a low coverage of vaccination, this could pose a challenge for the vaccination program against COVID-19 to be effective. The Ministry of Public Health should work on public trust and change people's mindset about vaccine reality and efficacy to prevent the rejection of this health intervention.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Percentage distribution of the responses on awareness, availability, willingness, and reservation toward COVID-19 vaccine. This figure appears in color at www.ajtmh.org.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Reasons for reservation of COVID-19 vaccine by the respondents. This figure appears in color at www.ajtmh.org.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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