Abstract

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, various nations adopted different measures to contain the spread and keep their citizens safe. The Nigerian government adopted physical interventions and strategic communication with a focus on creating awareness, instilling behaviour change and encouraging vaccine intake among its citizens. Despite the efforts, official data from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Federal Ministry of Health still indicated rising cases of COVID-19, as well as vaccine hesitancy among the citizens thus raising fears and suspicion that citizens may not be adequately aware of the seriousness of the disease, or are not changing behaviour as expected. This study examined citizens’ awareness and perception of government’s efforts at containing COVID-19; the extent of COVID-19-related media message penetration among citizens; possible factors responsible for citizens’ willingness to change their behaviour; and understand citizens’ main media sources of information on COVID-19 as well as identify possible strategies that can enhance behaviour change among citizens. Focusing on South-West, Nigeria, the study adopted the quantitative survey method. Findings showed that awareness of the containment measures was high among the literate but low on the illiterate; media campaigns on COVID-19 measures were convincing to respondents due to repetitiveness of the campaigns; however, citizens’ responses to COVID-19 vaccination appeared low despite the campaigns. Findings also showed that though citizens knew and believed that the COVID-19 vaccines reduce the spread of COVID-19 despite their low responses to the call to COVID-19 vaccination, their attitude to taking COVID-19 vaccinations was conditioned by the belief that there is no evidence of its potency.

Key Words: COVID-19, Vaccination, Vaccine Adoption, Behaviour Change Communication, South-West Nigeria.

JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 15, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 30-45.

© Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON).

About the authors

* Eserinune McCarty Mojaye, Ph.D., ORCID: 0000-0002-9571-7201, is a Professor of Mass Communication and Director, Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for African Studies, (OOCAS), National Open University of Nigeria, Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria.

** Lateef Adekunle Adelakun, Ph.D., ORCID: 0000-0003-4968-5314, is an Associate Professor and Head, Department of Mass Communication, National Open University of Nigeria, Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria. His research focuses on development communication and new media.

*** Oliver Chuks Odiegwu-Enwerem, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, National Open University of Nigeria, Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria.

****Ifeyinwa Maureen Ogbonna-Nwaogu is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, National Open University of Nigeria, Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria.

Funding

This study was funded by the Senate Research Grant of the National Open University of Nigeria, Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge and thank the Vice Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria, Prof. Olufemi Peters for providing the generous grant with which this study was carried out and also giving the authors the ambient atmosphere to carry out the research. We also acknowledge and appreciate the support of the Director, Prof. Joseph Itah Omada, and staff of the Directorate of Research Administration of the National Open University of Nigeria.

Declaration of Interest Statement

The authors have acknowledged all underlying interest groups and hereby declare that there is no conflict of interest for the publication of this paper.

Article Citation

Mojaye, E. M.; Adelakun, L. A.; Odiegwu-Enwerem, O. C. & Ogbonna-Nwaogu, I. M. (2023). COVID-19 containment and vaccination campaigns: Citizens’ responses, behaviour change and vaccine adoption. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 15 (1): 30-45.

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