Factors associated with Covid-19 vaccine uptake and dropout rate among Men in Kabuyanda Town Council-Isingiro District

Introduction: COVID-19 (Corona Virus) is an emerging respiratory disease caused by the highly contagious Novel virus referred to as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus. Immunization is the most recommended effective strategy for primary prevention of the illness (WHO 2020) however COVID-19 vaccine uptake is low at 40% in Uganda far below the national target of 95%. The study assessed factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake and dropout rate among men in Kabuyanda Town Council. Methods: It was community cross sectional study, a total of 406 men aged 18years and above were enrolled in the study, sampled and interviewed at house hold in January to April 2024, semi- structured questionnaires were administered to collect quantitative data, which was analyzed using STATA software. Binary logistic regression was performed to assess factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake and dropout rate, the association between outcome variable was tested using Pearson’s Chi-Square (x²) and odds ratio, p-value ≤0.05 was considered significant Results: COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Kabuyanda Town council is low, (45.47% vs 95%) compared to the national target as previously reported (https://uniph.go.ug). Independent factors were Age between 33-45 years (OR 3.31 (1.24 - 8.85) p-value (0.017) and 45and above (OR 12.28 (4.58 - 32.98) p-value (0.000), level of income (60.000-200,000) (OR 2.27 (1.30-3.94) p-value 0.004 , briefs on “whether one can get COVID-19 if not vaccinated” majority men Disagreed (OR 5.82 (1.57-21.52) p-value (0.008), perceptions “of whether one can develop complications and die after getting an injection of COVID-19 Vaccine, men who agreed (OR 0.21(0.04-0.97) P-value (0.0047) Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccine uptake among men is low. Therefore there is need to intensify health education on the benefits of COVID -19 Vaccines in communities to counteract myths, rumors about the disease and the vaccine, create immunization outreaches in rural areas to immunize those in 3km and beyond, engage men in high paying projects to raise monthly earnings and carry out more studies about COVID-19 vaccine uptake to strengthen these findings Key words: COVID-19, Vaccine Uptake, Immunization, Vaccination