Factors associated with Covid-19 vaccine acceptance among persons with disabilities: A cross-sectional study in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: While COVID-19 has had a wide-ranging impact on individuals and societies, persons with disabilities are uniquely affected largely due to secondary health conditions and challenges in adhering to protective measures. However, research on COVID-19 and vaccine acceptance has primarily focused on the general population and healthcare workers but has specifically not targeted PwDs, who are more vulnerable within societies. Hence, this study assessed PwDs knowledge of COVID-19 and factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among PwDs in the Atwima Mponua District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Respondents were sampled systematically and data was collected using a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed with STATA version 16.0. Descriptive analysis was done using means and proportions. The chi-square test and Logistic regression were used to assess Covid-19 vaccine acceptance among the respondents.

RESULTS: 250 PwDs were recruited for the study. A higher proportion of the respondents were females, physically impaired, and between 30-50 years. The majority (74%) of the PwDs had average knowledge about Covid-19. Factors such as age, educational level and type of disability were significantly associated with PwDs' knowledge of COVID-19. The acceptance rate for COVID-19 among PwDs was 71.2%. Age, religion, knowledge of COVID-19, and educational level were significantly associated with Covid-19 vaccine acceptance. Persons with disabilities with low and average knowledge of COVID-19 were 95% and 65%, respectively, less likely to accept the vaccine compared to those with high knowledge of COVID-19 (AOR = 0.05, 95%CI: 0.01, 0.21; AOR = 0.35, 95%CI: 0.12, 1.03). Older people and those with higher education were more likely to accept the vaccine compared to younger people and those with no or less education.

CONCLUSION: Persons with disabilities have average knowledge of COVID-19 and a greater percentage of them were willing to accept the vaccine. The study identified age, religion, knowledge of COVID-19, and educational level as contributing factors to their willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. This suggest that PwDs will lean positive toward COVID-19 vaccine programs and as such, vaccination programs should target them.