Using Afrobarometer survey data covering 15 African countries, this study examines the impact of educational attainment and news consumption on Africans’ beliefs regarding whether prayer is more effective than a vaccine in preventing COVID-19. Regression results show that education reduces individuals’ likelihood of believing that prayer is more effective than a vaccine in preventing the disease. This might be because education encourages critical thinking, prompting people to believe more in science, which is evidence-based, rather than in prayer, which is based on supernatural beliefs. Likewise, news consumption reduces individuals’ likelihood of believing that prayer is more effective than a vaccine. This might be because most of the news that Africans encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic emphasised the severity of the disease and encouraged vaccination. Regression results also show that, compared to non-religious individuals, Christians and Muslims were more likely to believe that prayer is more effective than a vaccine, while those practicing ethnic/traditional religion were less likely to hold such beliefs.
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