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. 2024 Oct 18;24(1):2875.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20417-9.

The acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines in Rwanda: a cross-sectional study

Edward Mbonigaba  1   2 , Fengyun Yu  3 , Mark Donald C Reñosa  4 , Ivan Emil Mwikarago  5   6 , Frederick Nchang Cho  7   8 , Peter Canisius Kuku Elad  7   9 , Wolfram Metzger  10 , Richard Muhindo  11   12 , Qiushi Chen  13 , Claudia M Denkinger  14 , Shannon A McMahon  14 , Simiao Chen  14   15
Affiliations

The acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines in Rwanda: a cross-sectional study

Edward Mbonigaba et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

The first reported case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Rwanda occurred on March 14 2020. By the end of July 2024, a total of 133,518 individuals had tested positive for the infection, resulting in 1,468 deaths and 132,039 had fully recovered. The success of COVID-19 elimination in Rwanda hinges on the public's level of acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccination. Although COVID-19 is no longer a pandemic anymore, the World Health Organisation recommends countries vaccinate their populations to protect them from COVID-19 and its variants. Globally, COVID-19 has affected 704,753,890 people, caused 7,010,681 deaths and 675,619,811 have recovered. This study aimed to assess the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines among adults aged 18 years and above in Rwanda. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2022 to determine the associations between COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (VA) with respondents' characteristics, using logistic regression analysis. This study enrolled 2,126 respondents with a mean age of 31 years, the majority of whom were females (82.2%), 51.4% had completed primary education, and 78.7% were married. Most respondents recognized the importance of COVID-19 vaccination for both personal health and community well-being. The study found a high rate of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, with 91.6% of respondents expressing VA and an overall VA rate of 98.2%. Having a relationship with the child(ren) was the only characteristic associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (p; 3.2 × 10- 3, OR; 2.9, 95% C.I; 1.4-5.9). In conclusion, the study found a high rate of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among adults in Rwanda, with COVID-19 associated with having a relationship with the child(ren). The study recommends the need for mass educational campaigns and awareness-raising efforts to understand of COVID-19 vaccines.

Keywords: Acceptability; COVID-19; Rwanda; Vaccination; Vaccine acceptance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic illustration of the study settings using a multistage sampling method
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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