KNOWLEDGE OF COVID-19 INFECTION AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS VACCINATION AMONG HEALTH WORKERS IN SOME SELECTED HEALTH FACILITIES IN YENAGOA, BAYELSA STATE

The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria early in the year 2020, coupled with its morbid and economic implications aroused the need for vaccine production which many thought was too sudden and may not have undergone the trial tests required before vaccines are put out for human consumption. Controversies and stories around the vaccine also increased doubt in many concerning its efficacy. Most health workers have also expressed fear about its effectiveness. This study assessed the knowledge of covid-19 infection and attitude towards vaccination among health workers in some selected health facilities in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Four research questions were posed and four hypotheses formulated. The population was 276 health workers. Sample size was 166 being 60% of the population. Design was descriptive; questionnaire was used for data collection with response option of 'True' and 'False' for knowledge items and four point likert scale for attitude items, with reliability index of 0.74 using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. Only 157 questionnaires were correctly filled. Binary logistic regression was used to test the hypotheses. Results obtained revealed that health workers were knowledgeable about COVID-19 infection with those aged 30 – 39 years and 40 -49 years being about 2 times (OR= 2.37. 95% CI:0.24-23.90) and 6 times (OR=5.50, 95% CI:0.31-97.23) respectively, more likely to be knowledgeable of COVID-19 infection than those aged 20 – 29 years. knowledge of covid-19 side effects was high among males (80.4%), negative attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination was high among health workers with male health workers being 1.3 times more likely to possess negative attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination than their female counterpart (OR= 1.33, 95% CI: 0.62-2.90). The study recommends that health workers should endeavor to get vaccinated because they are more exposed due to their occupation, as the vaccine confers a level of protection which is better than not being vaccinated at all