BRM Draft

Of the 120 respondents, nearly half were in the age group of 25-60 years, the gender distribution was
almost
equal and almost 90% of them were either illiterate or educated less than high school and more than half of
them had no income.
Only 9% of the respondents were aware of COVID-19 vaccine, with rest either believing that it did not exist
(58%), or they didn’t know about it. We have found that majority (64.5%) of the young adults aged between
18 and 40 years were unaware about the COVID vaccine availability, followed by 56.4% person aged
between 40 and 60 years and 46.2% of the persons aged more than 60 years were unaware about the
vaccine availability. Our study also found that more than half (56.4%) of the person aged between 40 and 60
years and majority (64.4%) of the females don’t know about the COVID vaccine availability. In our study,
majority (64) of those who told that there is no COVID vaccine were educated less than 10th standard. We
found that more than half (54.9%) who reported no awareness belong to no income group. Nearly two-third
(61.3%) of those who responded don’t know about the COVID vaccine availability also belong to no income
group. More than half of housewife (53.0%), unemployed (58.8%), white collar job (58.3%), blue collar job
(63.5%) were unaware about COVID vaccine availability.
Among the study participants, nearly 79% were willing to take COVID-19 vaccine when it is available for use
and only 2% did not want the vaccination. (Figure 2), the others were not sure of their response. In our
analysis we have found that nearly more than two third of the participants in all age groups were willing to
take vaccine once it is available. More than 2/3rd males and females were willing to take the COVID vaccine
and it was found that only thirteen postgraduates were willing to accept the COVID vaccine. Majority (67%)
of the people who may accept the COVID vaccine in future were educated less than high school. More than
2/3rd of the people who responded that they are willing to accept the COVID vaccine belong to the no
income group. It has been found that more than half of the people who were willing to accept the COVID
vaccine were blue collar workers and housewife
Conclusion
The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccine might be the reason of relucyancy among the general
population. We also found that the awareness about the COVID-19 vaccine, and its acceptance, varies
depending on sociodemographic characteristics. The most important factor leading to the vaccine hesitancy
is the occurrence of mild or serious side effects. Vaccine acceptability may rise once more information about
vaccine safety and efficacy is available to the public, preferably by a trusted, centralized source of
information.
Method:
This cross-sectional, non-interventional, observational questionnaire based study was conducted from the
5th10th of October, 2020 in an urban slum in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The questionnaire was administered to
subjects who volunteered to be part of a large COVID-19 sero-survey, along with a diabetes and eye
screening program. The Inclusion criteria for the study was voluntary participation, and limited to subjects
above the age of 18 years. Exclusion criteria was residents of that slum not giving the consent to participate
in the study. All questionnaires were administered over a 5-day period in different parts of the slum to
ensure adequate representation of the whole slum area. Recruitment was on a first come, first served basis
and capped at 300 tests per day. All participants in the screening program were administered a pre-
designed, validated questionnaire, after an informed consent. The study participants were offered the
questionnaire in one of three languages: English, Hindi and Marathi. The questionnaires in the different
languages had earlier been validated by forwardback translations for comprehension. The questionnaire had
questions designed to elicit the following: demographic details, information related to knowledge, attitudes
and perspectives regarding COVID19. For the purpose of this report, we have analysed only those responses
which are related to the COVID-19 vaccine. The responses to the following questions were analysed in detail.
Q1. Is there a vaccine for COVID19 available today (forced choice responses: yes / no / don’t know), Q2. If
there was a vaccine available for COVID19 I would take it (forced choice responses: yes / no / don’t know)
The study was conducted in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. The study protocol
was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee at Ashwini Rural Medical College, Hospital and Research
Center, Sholapur, Maharashtra.
Statistical analysis
Frequency and percentages were calculated for categorical variables. Median and range was reported for
continuous variables. The overall and risk-group specific RT-PCR positivity rates were reported with 95%
confidence intervals using Open Epi (open source epidemiologic statistics for public health). Additionally,
positive RT-PCR rates were reported according to demographics, comorbidities, work related risk/exposures
and prevention practices. Difference in proportion was examined by χ2 tests with Yates’ correction, if
required. According to needs, Fishers’ exact test was also used.
Recommendations
In addition, all efforts must be made to curb the spread of misinformation about the vaccine. Interventional
educational campaigns especially targeting the populations at a higher risk of vaccine hesitancy are
therefore essential to avoid low inoculation rates. Additional studies to identify the barriers to vaccine
acceptance, and the populations at a higher risk for vaccine hesitancy are also critical. They will help the
public health policy makers to formulate more definitive, efficient strategies that can help to implement the
COVID-19 vaccination program successfully in India.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.13.20229534v1.full.pdf

BRM Draft

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

BRM Draft

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

BRM Draft

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Of the 120 respondents, nearly half were in the age group of 25-60 years, the gender distribution was

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.