Abstract

Several efforts are made to control spread of COVID-19. Vaccines are one of the tools currently used to control spread of the disease. This study aimed to assess the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and determinants among healthcare workers in the Limbe health district of Cameroon. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 405 health workers in selected health facilities. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to recruit participants and Chi-square and logistic regression were used to analyze data. Their mean age was 34.67±7.32 years. The findings revealed that only 27.4% of healthcare workers had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and just 23.2% were fully vaccinated. The uptake of the booster was just 4.4%. Among those who received the vaccine, the distribution was as follows: 11.7% received AstraZeneca, 63.1% received Johnson and Johnson, 13.5% received Pfizer, and 3.6% received Sinopharm. Factors associated to the vaccine uptake were sex (AOR=0.45 [95% CI: 0.26-0.79], P=O.OO6), longevity of service (AOR=0.29, [95% CI: 0.12-0.70], P=0.006), suffering from chronic disease (AOR=0.09 [95% CI:0.04-0.22], p<0.001) and had close one who had had COVID-19 (AOR=0.45, [95% CI:0.27-0.76], p=0.003). Also, health workers knowledge (AOR=2.15, [95% CI: 1.17-3.94], p=0.014), practices (AOR=4.17, [95% CI: 1.70-10.27], p=0.002) and attitudes (AOR=2.36, [95% CI: 1.37-4.07], p=0.002) were significantly associated to vaccine uptake. The proportion of healthcare workers who had taken the COVID-19 vaccine was low their knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine was below average. Sensitization, education and training programs therefore need to be intensified in this district to boost healthcare workers’ knowledge of the vaccine. This will increase vaccine uptake.

Key words: COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine uptake, healthcare workers, knowledge, attitudes, practices.