Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Uganda: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

Allen Kabagenyi,1 Ronald Wasswa,2 Betty K Nannyonga,3 Evelyne B Nyachwo,4 Atek Kagirita,5 Juliet Nabirye,4 Leonard Atuhaire,6 Peter Waiswa4 1Department of Population Studies, School of Statistics & Planning, College of Business and Management Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; 2Department of Statistical Methods and Actuarial Science, School of Statistics & Planning, College of Business and Management Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; 3Department of Mathematics, School of Natural Science, College of Business and Management Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; 4Health Policy, Planning and Management, School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; 5Department of National Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Kampala, Uganda; 6Department of Planning and Applied Statistics, School of Statistics & Planning, College of Business and Management Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, UgandaCorrespondence: Allen Kabagenyi, Department of Population Studies, School of Statistics & Planning, College of Business and Management Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, Email allenka79@yahoo.comPurpose: Vaccination toward coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been recommended and adopted as one of the measures of reducing the spread of this novel disease worldwide. Despite this, vaccine uptake among the Ugandan population has been low with reasons surrounding this being unknown. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Uganda.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 1042 adults in the districts of Mukono, Kiboga, Kumi, Soroti, Gulu, Amuru, Mbarara and Sheema from June to November 2021. Data were analyzed using STATA v.15. Barriers to vaccination were analyzed descriptively, while a binary logistic regression model was used to establish the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.Results: Overall, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was 58.6% (611). Respondents from urban areas and those .