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Anti-COVID-19 Vaccination: Perception and Attitudes among Oral Health Practitioners and Other Health Personnel in Yaounde

Esther Voundi Voundi, Jacqueline Michèle Lowe, Marie Elvire Nokam Abena*, Eric Nseme, Haamit Abba-kabir, Elisabeth Songue, Joseph Kamgn

Introduction: Vaccination against COVID-19 promoted among high-risk populations such as an oral health care worker is one of the most rapidly and massively deployed interventions in history.

Objective: The overall objective of our study was to assess the perception and attitudes regarding COVID-19 vaccination among oral health care workers in comparison to other health care workers in Yaoundé.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2022 (3 months) on 360 health personnel in three hospitals in Yaoundé. All health personnel who gave informed consent were included in the study. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 software with a significance level of p<0.05.

Results: In more than half of the cases, doubt about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines was found without any difference between the oral practitioners (53.3%) and the others (58.7%) (p=0.476). Fear of harm was mainly found among oral practitioners (75.0% vs. 46.4%; p=0.006). There was no statistically significant difference in terms of vaccination coverage and motivations for vaccination between our two socio-professional groups (p ≥0.05).

Conclusion: the fear of the harmfulness of the COVID-19 vaccine was preponderant among healthcare personnel working in the oral sphere. De-structuring the representation of this vaccine among this population could improve the response to this disease.