Abstract:
Background: Vaccination is one of the strategies to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 vaccine acceptance
and cost are important factors affecting its uptake. However, little is known about acceptance and willingness to
pay (WTP) for the vaccine.
Objective: This study aimed to assess acceptance and WTP for the COVID-19 vaccine and its associated factors
among school teachers.
Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among school teachers. A stratified simple
random sampling technique was employed to select the participants. The contingent valuation method was used
to assess each respondent’s willingness to pay for the COVID-19 vaccination. A multivariable logistic regression
analysis was employed to identify significant factors associated with WTP for the COVID-19 vaccine. A p value of
less than 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval were used to declare statistical significance.
Result: A total of 301 school teachers participated with a response rate of 99.6%. The mean age of participants was
39.5 (SD ± 8.7 years). The mean WTP for the COVID-19 vaccine is US$ 4.98 (± US$ 1.6). Less than half (40.8%) of
participants were willing to accept the COVID-19 vaccine whereas only 36.9% (95% CI, (31.6%, 42.5%)) of them were
WTP for the vaccine. Being male (AOR = 3.23; 95% CI, (1.70, 6.14)), being a private school teacher (AOR = 3.27; 95%
CI, (1.76, 6.10)), having high perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 (AOR = 2.69; 95% CI, (1.38, 5.24)), having high
perceived seriousness of COVID-19 (AOR = 4.04; 95% CI, (1.80, 9.1)), and having high perceived benefit of COVID-19
vaccine (AOR = 3.0; 95% CI, (1.41, 6.34) were significant factors associated with WTP for COVID-19 vaccination.
Conclusion and recommendation: The magnitude of acceptance and WTP for the COVID-19 vaccine was low
among school teachers. Male sex, private school affiliation, high perceived risk of COVID-19, and benefit of COVID 19 vaccine were the most important factors affecting school teacher’s WTP for COVID-19 vaccine. Thus, health
communication programs should give due emphasis to raising teacher’s perceived risk of COVID-19 and the benefit
of the COVID-19 vaccine to improve their acceptance and WTP for the vaccine. Furthermore, subsidizing the cost of
the vaccine may improve their WTP.
