Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Ann Natl Acad Med Sci 2022; 58(02): 092-099
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1743136
Original Article

Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccination in India after the First Phase-Out: A Cross-Sectional Community-Based Study

Neetu Shukla
1   Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Monika Agarwal
1   Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Anish Khanna
1   Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Amritesh Chandra Shukla
2   Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Anila Varghese
1   Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
   Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Background India rolled out the world's largest vaccination program on January 16, 2021, marking the beginning of an effort to vaccinate a population of 1.3 billion against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. However, the hesitancy toward safe and effective vaccine against severe infection is a major global health threat. Hence, public acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine would be an essential deterrent to the pandemic control.

Materials and Methods A cross-sectional online study was conducted among the Indians from January 1 to January 31, 2021. The online questionnaire addressed several variables, including the sociodemographic parameters, COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, and concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccine.

Results Out of total 450 participants, majority of them (97.1) were aware about the COVID-19 vaccination drive. Only 66.2% showed their willingness to accept vaccination, 26.0% were still indecisive, and 7.8% did not want to accept it.

Conclusion Despite numerous efforts by various scientific organizations, public health experts, and media outlets, to educate the general population about the COVID-19 vaccine, significant portion of the Indian population may experience vaccine hesitancy, which poses dangers to both the individual and their community. Therefore, we must target these potential candidates, who are indecisive, for intervention to increase vaccine acceptance across the country. In this regard, large-scale study is required to understand the knowledge, expectation, and apprehension covering various economic and occupational strata of the society.

Keywords

COVID-19 - vaccine acceptance - vaccine hesitancy - India


Publication History

Article published online:
07 March 2022

© 2022. National Academy of Medical Sciences (India). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India