Socio-cultural factors and Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccines: A rapid cross-sectional qualitative study.
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Date
2022-08
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Interdisciplinary Journal of College of Postgraduate Studies Redeemers’ University Ede (Corpus Intellectual)
Abstract
As a result of the perceived infringement of COVID-19 prophylactic measures on people’s freedom as well as their socio-cultural and economic lives, only vaccination has remained, while people have reverted to their respective normal ways of life that portray that the COVID-19 pandemic is over without waiting for the declaration of the World Health Organization. However, almost two years after the discovery of medically approved vaccines for this novel coronavirus, reports have indicated Nigerians’ skepticism about the acceptance of the vaccines. A large number of studies on the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines were internet-based and largely employed quantitative approaches. This condition has resulted in a dearth of qualitative approaches to explore socio-cultural factors influencing the acceptance of the vaccine. Therefore, the sole objective of this study was to discover the current socio-cultural factors influencing the acceptance of the medically approved vaccines using a qualitative approach. Roger’s diffusion of innovation theory was utilized to explain the continuum of the acceptance of the vaccine. The study covered the highly dense residential areas of the Southwest zone of Nigeria. Purposive sampling was adopted to select the 6 State capitals of the zone, each of which 3 electoral wards were purposively selected, making a total of 18 electoral wards. Meanwhile, four informants (2 males and 2 females) who were residents of the study location with several parameters were purposively selected, making a total sample size of 72 for the study. An in-depth face-to-face interview was employed to gather the primary data for this study. The study utilized an interview guide that contained unstructured questions that centered on the sole objective of this study. Both thematic and content analyses were utilized to analyze the collected data. The study found that predestination, belief in supernatural healing, misconception of the vaccine as the satanic mark-666; birth rate control means, economic issues, social vices, political activities and crises, trado-medical practices, ethnocentrism, and stigmatization were the major factors influencing the acceptance of the vaccines. The study concluded that there were several socio-cultural factors that prevented people from taking the approved vaccine in the study location
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Keywords
Socio-cultural factors, COVID-19, Supernatural healing, predestination, Vaccine, Acceptance
Citation
Fakunle, S. O., Okunola, J. L., Opadere A. A., Adeoye, A. O., Balogun-Omotade, L. (2022). Socio-cultural factors and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines: A rapid cross-sectional qualitative study. Interdisciplinary Journal of College of Postgraduate Studies Redeemers’ University Ede (Corpus Intellectual), Special Issue 2022, 20-44. ISSN PRINT 2811-3187 ONLINE 2811-3209