Abstract:
Background: COVID-19 had been a severe public health hazard globally. To tackle the
pandemic many preventive measures were applied. Vaccination is regarded as an effective
intervention for combating pandemics and the majority of infectious diseases that are preventable
through vaccine. Low acceptance of vaccine rate and high hesitant to COVID-19 vaccine were
still the major challenge to achieve the goal of herd immunity in the community.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of intention to vaccinate COVID-19 vaccine and
associated factor among Jimma University under graduate student .
Method: A cross sectional study design was employed by supplementing qualitative method
among Jimma University under graduate students with a sample of 362 from selected
departments. Data was collected from April to May 2022. Data was entered into EPI data version
3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for statistical analysis. Multiple Linear regression models
were used to identify the predictors of intention to vaccinate COVID-19 vaccine score. With 95%
CI and p-value was used to interpret the association between the predictors and dependent
variable at p-value <0.05 were used to declare statistically significant. Qualitative data were
collected by using 12 in-depth interviews and analysed manually to supplement the findings of
quantitative study.
Result: the response rate of this study was 99.1%. The percentile mean score of intention to
vaccinate COVID-19 Vaccine in Jimma University under graduate students was 57.6%
(SD=25.7) and the raw mean score of this scale was 30.4±5.33 with a total rotated variance
explained 72.58%. COVID-19 vaccine literacy with (B=.155, 95%CI, .090 .217, p<0.001),
Descriptive norm with (B=.089, 95%CI, .047 .123, p<0.05), perceived severity with (B=.035,
95%CI .006, .055, p<0.05) and attitude with (B=.322, 95%CI, 293, .353, p<0.05) were found to
be factors associated with intention to vaccinate COVID-19 vaccine.
Conclusion: In this study the percentages mean score of intention to vaccinate COVID-19
vaccine among Jimma University under graduate students was 57.6%. Intention to vaccinate
COVID-19 vaccine was affected by COVID-19 vaccine literacy, descriptive norm, perceived
severity and attitude. Awareness creations regarding the vaccine are important to increase the
intention to uptake the vaccine.
