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Knowledge, attitude and perception of African immigrants in South Africa to Covid-19 vaccination

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges globally. Vaccination has emerged as a crucial tool in mitigating the impact of the virus. However, the success of vaccination campaigns depends largely on public acceptance and uptake. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, att...

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Main Author: Ohiagu, Shedrach
Other Authors: Ras, Tasleem
Format: Thesis
Language:Eng
Published: Department of Medicine 2025
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access_status_str Open Access
author Ohiagu, Shedrach
author2 Ras, Tasleem
author_browse Ohiagu, Shedrach
Ras, Tasleem
author_facet Ras, Tasleem
Ohiagu, Shedrach
author_sort Ohiagu, Shedrach
collection Thesis
description Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges globally. Vaccination has emerged as a crucial tool in mitigating the impact of the virus. However, the success of vaccination campaigns depends largely on public acceptance and uptake. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of African immigrant participants towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study in which a close-ended validated questionnaire was used to collect data from 202 participants from a periurban area of Cape Town. Participants were presented with a series of questions assessing their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Responses were scored and categorised to evaluate the participants' understanding and acceptance of the vaccine. Results: The study included 202 participants with a mean age of 31.6 years, ranging from 18 to 80 years. The majority (42.5%) fell within the 26-33 years age group, and 65% were aged 33 or younger. Males constituted 60% of the participants, and about half (49.5%) were born in Zimbabwe. A significant portion (68.53%) had not experienced COVID-19 symptoms, while 47% had not received any COVID-19 vaccination at the time of the research. With regards to the overall knowledge of the COVID-19 vaccine, 24.26% have poor knowledge, 46.04% have fair knowledge, and 29.70% have good knowledge. With regards to overall attitude, 59% have a negative attitude, and 41% have a positive attitude. For the overall perception, 52% have a negative perception and 48% a positive perception. Conclusion: These findings underscore the complexity of vaccine acceptance and highlight the need for multifaceted strategies to improve vaccine uptake. These could include educational interventions to address knowledge gaps and misconceptions, as well as strategies to leverage social influence and address attitudinal barriers to vaccination. Further research is needed to explore these factors in more depth and develop effective interventions for improving vaccine acceptance and uptake among this population.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language Eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:53:26.353Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
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publisherStr Department of Medicine
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41270 Knowledge, attitude and perception of African immigrants in South Africa to Covid-19 vaccination Ohiagu, Shedrach Ras, Tasleem Biology Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges globally. Vaccination has emerged as a crucial tool in mitigating the impact of the virus. However, the success of vaccination campaigns depends largely on public acceptance and uptake. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of African immigrant participants towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study in which a close-ended validated questionnaire was used to collect data from 202 participants from a periurban area of Cape Town. Participants were presented with a series of questions assessing their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Responses were scored and categorised to evaluate the participants' understanding and acceptance of the vaccine. Results: The study included 202 participants with a mean age of 31.6 years, ranging from 18 to 80 years. The majority (42.5%) fell within the 26-33 years age group, and 65% were aged 33 or younger. Males constituted 60% of the participants, and about half (49.5%) were born in Zimbabwe. A significant portion (68.53%) had not experienced COVID-19 symptoms, while 47% had not received any COVID-19 vaccination at the time of the research. With regards to the overall knowledge of the COVID-19 vaccine, 24.26% have poor knowledge, 46.04% have fair knowledge, and 29.70% have good knowledge. With regards to overall attitude, 59% have a negative attitude, and 41% have a positive attitude. For the overall perception, 52% have a negative perception and 48% a positive perception. Conclusion: These findings underscore the complexity of vaccine acceptance and highlight the need for multifaceted strategies to improve vaccine uptake. These could include educational interventions to address knowledge gaps and misconceptions, as well as strategies to leverage social influence and address attitudinal barriers to vaccination. Further research is needed to explore these factors in more depth and develop effective interventions for improving vaccine acceptance and uptake among this population. 2025-03-27T11:04:21Z 2025-03-27T11:04:21Z 2024 2025-03-27T10:57:24Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41270 Eng application/pdf Department of Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Biology
Ohiagu, Shedrach
Knowledge, attitude and perception of African immigrants in South Africa to Covid-19 vaccination
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Knowledge, attitude and perception of African immigrants in South Africa to Covid-19 vaccination
title_full Knowledge, attitude and perception of African immigrants in South Africa to Covid-19 vaccination
title_fullStr Knowledge, attitude and perception of African immigrants in South Africa to Covid-19 vaccination
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge, attitude and perception of African immigrants in South Africa to Covid-19 vaccination
title_short Knowledge, attitude and perception of African immigrants in South Africa to Covid-19 vaccination
title_sort knowledge attitude and perception of african immigrants in south africa to covid 19 vaccination
topic Biology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41270
work_keys_str_mv AT ohiagushedrach knowledgeattitudeandperceptionofafricanimmigrantsinsouthafricatocovid19vaccination