Assessment of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Willingness to Pay by Nigerians

Introduction: The COVID-19 Pandemic has affected critical sectors of human development. To curtail these effects, vaccines are being approved for human trials. It is, therefore, important to know the possible vaccine coverage expected in each country. This study determined the willingness of Nigerians to accept and pay for COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey across all states of Nigeria was conducted via a structured e-questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and multinomial logistic regression were conducted. Result: A total of 502 responses were obtained from all six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, comprising 67.3% males (n = 338) and 32.7% females (n = 164). The results indicated that 34.7% (n = 167) are willing to accept the vaccine when given for free, 33.9% (n = 163) are not willing, and up to 31.4% (n = 151) are indifferent in their decision. Univariate analysis indicated the likelihood that education level could influence willingness to accept the vaccine (F = 2.408, p = 0.049). Rollout strategies may have an impact (p < 0.0001) on the willingness to accept the vaccine. These strategies include providing incentives, making it compulsory and paying for the vaccine with F = 186.983 and eta = 0.657, F =71.620 and Eta = 0.476, F = 108.696 and Eta = 0.552, respectively. Conclusion: The study revealed a possibility of the low willingness of Nigerians to accept COVID-19 vaccine. Providing incentives is likely to improve coverage, while making the vaccine compulsory may increase rejection. This study, therefore, serves as a gateway for government and policymakers on how best to prime and penetrate the society to achieve massive COVID-19 vaccine coverage in Nigeria.

Functions and Implications of Circular RNAs in Antiviral Immunity

In addition to mature mRNAs, splicing of pol II transcripts generates numerous other RNAs including circular RNAs (circRNAs). circRNAs are a group of transcripts generated by non-sequential back splicing or forward splicing of exons, introns or a combination of both from a donor to an acceptor target. This forms covalently closed RNA molecule i.e. without free 5’ end caps or 3’ Poly (A) tails thereby making them more stable than their linear counterparts. Though they are recognized as part of non-coding RNAs, long noncoding precisely;evidence of translations has been reported from these molecules. circRNAs are considered emerging new members of the gene regulatory family. These circRNAs have several potential modes of action, some of which serve as microRNAs sponges shown in Table 1, protein binding RNAs, cellular transports, transcriptional regulators and modulating immune system. Viral circRNAs may evade immune recognition by many proposed mechanisms. These include undergoing slicing by host splicing machinery, being single stranded lacking free 5’ and 3’ ends, having miRNA sponge function, convenient regulatory functions which include initiating lytic replication, etc. Pattern of expression of these circRNAs differs from healthy individuals to different stages of viral infectious diseases. Thus, their use as potential biomarkers for diagnostics and future therapeutics targets have been proposed, especially with regards to viral infections that seem impossible for the human immune system to totally eliminate like the Epstein- Barr viral infection. So, this review summarizes the functions and implications of circRNAs regarding antiviral immunity.