A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY ON ACCEPTANCE AND ATTITUDES TOWARD COVID-19 VACCINES IN INDIA

Vignesh Krishnan Nagesh, *Sowparnika Treasa Sabu and Vivek Joseph Varughese

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 pandemic as with other previous pandemics is associated with feelings of fears, anxiety, and worries. However, it is unique in terms that people are not worried only about getting infected or transmit the disease to others, but they suffered societal and economic concerns due to the measures that were undertaken by the governments to confine the pandemic and stopping the human-human transmission of the disease. These measures include enforcement of curfews and lockdowns (the largest throughout history), social distancing and self-isolation, schools and universities closures, borders’ shutdowns, travel restrictions, and quarantine. Vaccines are effective interventions that can reduce the high burden of diseases globally. However, public vaccine hesitancy is a pressing problem for public health authorities. With the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, it is very important to study about the public acceptability and attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccines. This study aimed to investigate the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines and its predictors in addition to the attitudes towards these vaccines among public in India. An online, cross-sectional, and self-administered questionnaire was instrumentalized to survey sample population.

Keywords: Acceptability, Corona virus, Herd immunity, Safety, Vaccine.