• Mohammed A M Ahmed, Robert Colebunders, Abdi A Gele, Abdiqani A Farah, Shariff Osman, Ibraahim Abdullahi Guled, Aweis Ahmed Moalim Abdullahi, Ahmed Mohamud Hussein, Abdiaziz Mohamed Ali, and Siewe FodjoJoseph NelsonJN0000-0003-3544-1239Global Health Institute, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium.Brain Research Africa Initiative (BRAIN), Yaoundé P.O. Box 25625, Cameroon..
• Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Mogadishu University, Mogadishu P.O. Box 004, Somalia.
• Vaccines (Basel). 2021 May 21; 9 (6).

AbstractMost countries are currently gravitating towards vaccination as mainstay strategy to quell COVID-19 transmission. Between December 2020 and January 2021, we conducted a follow-up online survey in Somalia to monitor adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures, and COVID-19 vaccine acceptability and reasons for vaccine hesitancy. Adherence was measured via a composite adherence score based on four measures (physical distancing, face mask use, hand hygiene, and mouth covering when coughing/sneezing). We analyzed 4543 responses (mean age: 23.5 ± 6.4 years, 62.4% males). The mean adherence score during this survey was lower than the score during a similar survey in April 2020. A total of 76.8% of respondents were willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Flu-like symptoms were more frequently reported in the current survey compared to previous surveys. Multiple logistic regression showed that participants who experienced flu-like symptoms, those in the healthcare sector, and those with higher adherence scores had higher odds for vaccine acceptability while being a female reduced the willingness to be vaccinated. In conclusion, our data suggest that the decreasing adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures may have caused increased flu-like symptoms over time. COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in Somalia is relatively high but could be improved by addressing factors that contribute to vaccine hesitancy.

5 keywords...

hide…