Prevalence of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Healthcare Workers in Nigeria: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Objective The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Nigerian healthcare professionals. Methods An extensive language-unrestricted literature search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and the African Index Medicus to identify studies reporting hesitancy to COVID-19 vaccines among healthcare workers in Nigeria. Quality assessment was performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for cross-sectional studies. A single-arm meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model. Results Of the 206 articles, 22 publications with 20,724 participants were included. The pooled prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was 75% (95% CI: 61%–88%, I 2 = 99.69%, P < 0.001). Reasons for hesitancy, including concerns about side effects, lack of trust, and safety, were prevalent at 76% (CI: 0.57–0.94, I 2 = 99.24%, P < 0.001), 55% (CI: 0.042–0.272, I 2 = 97.42%, P < 0.001), and 68% (CI: 0.047–0.89, I 2 = 98.59%, P < 0.001), respectively. Conclusion There was significant hesitancy among Nigerian healthcare workers towards COVID-19 vaccination; thus, strategies to increase vaccination acceptance among healthcare workers should be developed.