Shitu, Kegnie
(hose working for the production and/or distribution of COVID-19 vaccin ation. Moreover, teachers are a special group of popula tion that are expected to be a role model to their students and to their community at large. If the accept ance of the COVID-19 vaccine low among this popula tion, it is easy to guess that the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance would be low in the general community, even though community-based studies are required to verify. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggested that the concerned bodies are urgently required to de sign programs that promote vaccine acceptance among school teachers. Otherwise, it would be very challenging to create the expected herd immunity in the community. Currently, it is estimated that perhaps 60% of individuals need to be immune to attain herd immunity for COVID-19 [30]. According to the present study, it is un likely that herd immunity through vaccination could be obtained without financial subsidies to vaccination and vaccine promotion activities. Conclusion and recommendations Willingness to accept and willingness to pay for COVID-19 was very low among school teachers. Sex, school type, perceived risk (susceptibility and serious ness) of COVID-19, and perceived benefit of COVID-19 vaccine were important factors associated with school teachers’ willingness to pay. The result indicated that the government needs to subsidize the cost of the vaccin ation whenever it becomes available in the market. Be sides, health communication interventions targeted at modifying perceptions about COVID-19 and its vaccine are urgently required to improve COVID-19 vaccine ac ceptability and WTP. Indeed, community-based re searches are required to assess the public’s acceptance and willingness to pay for COVID-19. Abbreviations AOR: Adjusted odds ratio; CI: Confidence interval; COR: Crude odds ratio; COVID-19: Coronavirus disease; WTA: Willingness to accept; WTP: Willingness to pay Acknowledgements We would like to express our gratitude to study participants, data collectors, the Gondar City education office, and directors of schools for their contribution to this research work. Authors’ contributions KS, MW, SH, and AK designed and managed the study; KS, MW, SH, and AK contributed to the study conceptualization and provided critical editorial input to the interpretation of the data. KS conducted the formal analysis and write the draft manuscript. MW, SH, and AK reviewed the drafted manuscript. The authors read and approved the final manuscript. Funding None Availability of data and materials The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request (Kegnie Shitu, E-mail: kegnsh@gmail.com). Declarations Consent for publication Not applicable Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Received: 1 April 2021 Accepted: 26 May 2021 References 1. COVID-19 weekly epidemiological update 22. [Internet]. World Health Organization. 2020 [cited 2021 Jan 5]. Available from: https://www.who.int/ docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/weekly_epidemiological_ update_22.pdf 2. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) dashboard [Internet]. World Health Organization. 2021 [cited 2021 Apr 5]. Available from: https://covid19.who. int/%0Ahttps://covid19.who.int/%0Ahttps://covid19.who.int/?gclid=CjwKCA jwnK36BRBVEiwAsMT8WJ3y00_BUzvrLsvbl3uthuoTH_Occ45gyEUbpYRyEqA zll3aZB6TYxoCcM0QAvD_BwE 3. Coronavirus - Ethiopia_ COVID-19 update (27 March 2021) _ Africanews [Internet]. [cited 2021 Apr 5]. Available from: https://www.africanews.com/2 021/03/28/coronavirus-ethiopia-covid-19-update-27-march-2021// 4. 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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 ...