Socio-demographic factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake and refusal among Ugandan women

Socio-demographic factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake and refusal among Ugandan women | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Socio-demographic factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake and refusal among Ugandan women Andreas Backhaus This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2092818/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: This paper analyzes associations of socio-demographic factors with the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, the refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and various reasons stated for refusing vaccination against COVID-19 among a representative sample of Ugandan women. Methods: This paper utilizes a representative survey collected among women aged 15-49 years in Uganda between September and November 2021. Regression analyses are used to study the associations of a broad range of socio-demographic characteristics with COVID-19 vaccine uptake, refusal of vaccination, and reasons for refusal among the respondents. Results: 4287 women were included in the analysis. 11.26% of them were vaccinated against COVID-19, 75.48% were willing to get vaccinated, 13.26% were unwilling to get vaccinated. Fear of side effects is the most commonly stated reason for refusing vaccination (68%). Factors significantly and positively associated with being vaccinated against COVID-19 are age, higher education, urban residency, recent labor supply, having savings, partial instead of complete income loss during the pandemic, and usage of modern contraceptives. Factors significantly and positively associated with refusing vaccination against COVID-19 are urban residency and current pregnancy, while age, relative household wealth, having savings, and using modern contraceptives are factors associated with a lower likelihood of refusing vaccination, albeit with varying statistical significance. Few factors are strongly related to the stated reasons for refusing the vaccines; the fear of side effects significantly increases with age, while having received negative information on the vaccines is significantly less common among women with higher education. Conclusions: This study reveals a low COVID-19 vaccination rate and a high willingness to get vaccinated in the future among Ugandan women aged 15-49 years in the second half of 2021. Positive age and education gradients in vaccine uptake point to inequity in access to vaccination, potentially resulting from prioritizations of groups at particularly high risk. Unwillingness to be vaccinated is relatively low, but systematic factors behind vaccine refusal are hardly to be found, even less so for particular reasons given for refusal. COVID-19 Vaccine acceptance Vaccine hesitancy Gender Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-2092818","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":146819037,"identity":"9e2782f1-e312-4f5e-b721-1359e16157b7","order_by":0,"name":"Andreas Backhaus","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Federal Institute for Population Research","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Andreas","middleName":"","lastName":"Backhaus","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2022-09-22 12:59:30","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2092818/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2092818/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":28478886,"identity":"f874fc22-c7b1-4326-b16a-7da070433222","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2022-10-31 21:35:26","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":26725,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eProgress of vaccination against COVID-19 in Uganda\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotes: The figure displays the vaccination rate against COVID-19 of the Ugandan population over time. The shaded area indicates the period of the survey\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ecollection.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSource: Author’s own depiction based on data provided by Our World In Data and PMA [16, 13].\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2092818/v1/d22e431cd628a79ae9a7d9e1.png"},{"id":28479008,"identity":"a03543cc-b791-4b4f-8fe5-7272fcee9709","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2022-10-31 21:40:26","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":31403,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eCOVID-19 vaccination policies in Uganda\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotes: The figure displays the COVID-19 vaccination policy in Uganda over time. Category 0 indicates that no vaccines are available. Category 1 indicates\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ethat vaccines are available for ONE of the following: key workers/ clinically vulnerable groups / elderly groups. Category 2 indicates that vaccines are\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eavailable for TWO of the following: key workers/ clinically vulnerable groups / elderly groups. Category 3 indicates that vaccines are available for ALL the\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003efollowing: key workers/ clinically vulnerable groups / elderly groups. Category 4 indicates that vaccines are available for all three, plus partial additional\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eavailability (select broad groups/ages). Category 5 indicates universal availability of vaccines. The shaded area indicates the period of the survey collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSource: Author’s own depiction based on data provided by Our World In Data, OxCGRT and PMA [16, 13, 17].\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2092818/v1/ff644b3a0e8ad8509907b02f.png"},{"id":28478890,"identity":"6b113c1d-9977-4cb9-adc9-89f174270cd6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2022-10-31 21:35:26","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":21322,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eCOVID-19 vaccine uptake and vaccination intentions among the surveyed women in\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUganda\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotes: The figure displays the number of surveyed Ugandan women who are vaccinated against COVID-19 (top bar), who are unvaccinated but willing to get\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003evaccinated against COVID-19 (middle bar) and who are not willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 (bottom bar). The corresponding percentages are\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003edisplayed at the end of each bar.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSource: Author’s own depiction. Sampling weights are applied.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2092818/v1/c3a63128fce46d835f320e80.png"},{"id":28479009,"identity":"0cbad533-1da2-4abd-a361-87ac07edd01c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2022-10-31 21:40:35","extension":"pdf","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":293201,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"UgandaVaccinationBMCPH.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2092818/v1_covered.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Socio-demographic factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake and refusal among Ugandan women","fulltext":[{"header":"Full Text","content":"This preprint is available for \u003ca href='/article/rs-2092818/latest.pdf' target='_blank'\u003edownload as a PDF\u003c/a\u003e."}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"COVID-19, Vaccine acceptance, Vaccine hesitancy, Gender","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2092818/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2092818/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eBackground: This paper analyzes associations of socio-demographic factors with the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, the refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and various reasons stated for refusing vaccination against COVID-19 among a representative sample of Ugandan women.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMethods: This paper utilizes a representative survey collected among women aged 15-49 years in Uganda between September and November 2021. Regression analyses are used to study the associations of a broad range of socio-demographic characteristics with COVID-19 vaccine uptake, refusal of vaccination, and reasons for refusal among the respondents.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResults: 4287 women were included in the analysis. 11.26% of them were vaccinated against COVID-19, 75.48% were willing to get vaccinated, 13.26% were unwilling to get vaccinated. Fear of side effects is the most commonly stated reason for refusing vaccination (68%). Factors significantly and positively associated with being vaccinated against COVID-19 are age, higher education, urban residency, recent labor supply, having savings, partial instead of complete income loss during the pandemic, and usage of modern contraceptives. Factors significantly and positively associated with refusing vaccination against COVID-19 are urban residency and current pregnancy, while age, relative household wealth, having savings, and using modern contraceptives are factors associated with a lower likelihood of refusing vaccination, albeit with varying statistical significance. Few factors are strongly related to the stated reasons for refusing the vaccines; the fear of side effects significantly increases with age, while having received negative information on the vaccines is significantly less common among women with higher education.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusions: This study reveals a low COVID-19 vaccination rate and a high willingness to get vaccinated in the future among Ugandan women aged 15-49 years in the second half of 2021. Positive age and education gradients in vaccine uptake point to inequity in access to vaccination, potentially resulting from prioritizations of groups at particularly high risk. Unwillingness to be vaccinated is relatively low, but systematic factors behind vaccine refusal are hardly to be found, even less so for particular reasons given for refusal.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Socio-demographic factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake and refusal among Ugandan women","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2022-10-31 21:35:24","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2092818/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"8e8f86a5-6307-4c71-8ee1-9374e9b061ad","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 31st, 2022","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2023-03-15T07:54:06+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2022-10-31 21:35:24","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-2092818","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-2092818","identity":"rs-2092818","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"J0_U0BvcaRcwD8yVFaRlm","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}