%0 Journal Article
%T COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy among Pregnant Women: A Knowledge, Attitude, and Perceived Risks Survey in Lusaka, Zambia
%A Steward Mudenda
%A Ruth Mbewe
%A Manal Hadi Ghaffoori Kanaan
%A Shafiq Mohamed
%J Pharmacology & Pharmacy
%P 147-166
%@ 2157-9431
%D 2024
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/pp.2024.155010
%X <b>Introduction: </b>The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease of the respiratory tract caused by SARS-CoV-2. Since its emergence, there have been increased rates of transmission and spread, morbidity and mortality which led to the development of COVID-19 vaccines to address the pandemic. This study assessed acceptance, knowledge, attitude, and perceived risks regarding COVID-19 vaccines among pregnant women attending antenatal care at two First-Level Hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia. <b>Materials and Methods: </b>This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted among 241 pregnant women using a questionnaire from August 2023 to October 2023 in two First-Level Hospitals in Lusaka district, Zambia. The collected data were analyzed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. Statistical analysis was performed using a Chi-square test. The statistical significance was set at a 95% confidence level. <b>Results:</b> Of the 241 participants, 107 (42.7%) were aged between 24 and 34 years. Overall, 64.3% accepted the COVID-19 vaccines, of which 122 (50.6%) were already vaccinated. Further, 203 (84.6%) of the pregnant women had good knowledge, and 199 (82.6%) had positive attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines. However, 58.5% thought COVID-19 vaccines were not safe and could cause infertility. Alongside this, 70.1% thought that COVID-19 vaccines were harmful during pregnancy. Having good knowledge of COVID-19 vaccines was associated with age (p = 0.049), education status (p = 0.001), and employment status (p = 0.001). Having a positive attitude towards COVID-19 vaccines was associated with education status (p = 0.001) and employment status (p = 0.001). <b>Conclusion: </b>This study found that most pregnant women had good knowledge, and positive attitudes, and the majority accepted the COVID-19 vaccine. Encouragingly, most of the pregnant women who accepted the COVID-19 vaccines were already vaccinated. Most pregnant women thought that COVID-19 vaccines had side effects, were not safe, and could be harmful during pregnancy. Consequently, this could have contributed to the hesitancy to receive a vaccine among some participants. The findings of this study demonstrate the need to provide pregnant women with continuous educational programs on the benefits of vaccinations for themselves and their children.
%K COVID-19 Vaccines
%K Pregnant Women
%K Vaccine Acceptance
%K Vaccine Hesitancy
%K Zambia
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=133008