Attitude, knowledge, and predictors of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among health care providers in South Gondar public hospitals, North Central Ethiopia: multi-facility based study.

Introduction: with this fast-increasing pandemic in terms of morbidity and mortality, all mankind is at risk of infection unless they get vaccinated and all African countries shall incorporate COVID-19 vaccination in their health care programs as long as the world work cooperatively. The pandemic, as the World Health Organization (WHO) stated, could be mitigated when 70% of the population which is nearly 5.6 billion should be immunized and to achieve this objective, the willingness of the community to be vaccinated before vaccination is essential. Methods: institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from March 1 Results: the majority of the respondents who accepted the COVID-19 vaccine accounted for nearly 260 (65%, 95% CI: 60-69). Positive attitude (AOR 2.5, 95% CI: 1.30-11.20), good knowledge (AOR 13, 95% CI: 6-27), bachelor of sciences (B.Sc) and above educational level (AOR 2.70, 95% CI: 1.30-6), TV or radio as source of information (AOR 0.10, 95% CI: 0.04-0.30), social media as source of information (AOR 0.04, 95% CI: 0.01-0.2), political leaders (AOR 0.08, 95% CI: 0.01- 0.90) were predictors of COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Conclusion: healthcare professionals (HCPs) with the decision (yes, sure) for COVID-19 vaccine uptake during data collection were found to be low as compared to other studies. Positive attitude, good knowledge, B.Sc, and above educational level were predictors enhancing COVID-19 vaccination uptake and TV or radio as a source of information, social media as a source of information and political leaders were factors decreasing COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Hence, it might be important to prioritize knowledge and attitude creation programs for HCPs and an alternative way of source of information and agents for the COVID-19 vaccine other than social media and religious leaders.