Digital Health Literacy and COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Adults in South South Nigeria

Digital health literacy, defined as the ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information from electronic sources, plays a growing role in shaping health decision-making including vaccine acceptance in the post-pandemic era. This study examined the relationship between digital health literacy and COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among adults in South South Nigeria, drawing data from Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa states. An analytical cross-sectional design was employed, with 350 adults aged 18 and above recruited from community health centres and public spaces in six local government areas. The eHealth Literacy Scale and a COVID-19 vaccine acceptance questionnaire were used as data collection instruments. Multiple logistic regression was applied. Results showed that higher digital health literacy scores were significantly associated with greater COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (adjusted odds ratio 2.3, p less than 0.01). Trust in health authorities, media exposure to vaccine misinformation, and socioeconomic status were significant confounders. Respondents with low digital health literacy were significantly more susceptible to vaccine misinformation from social media. The study recommends integrating digital health literacy training into community health education programmes across South South Nigeria and strengthening health authority communication on vaccine safety. Keywords: digital health literacy, COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, South South Nigeria, eHealth literacy, misinformation