1182 Vaccine hesitancy among health care workers: A study amidst COVID-19 vaccine drive in India

Mathur, Medha; Mathur, Navgeet

BACKGROUND: After the launch of COVID-19 vaccine by the government of India in 2021, the current study was conducted to assess the vaccine hesitancy among health care workers regarding COVID-19 vaccination and its safety, efficacy, rolling out strategy and undesirable effects. METHODS: This cross-sectional study, conducted on health care workers vaccinated at a tertiary care center of southern Rajasthan using a pre-designed and pre-validated questionnaire to collect data through the ‘Exit Interview’ technique after consent and ethical approval. RESULTS: Out of 3102, 56.8% were male and 43.2% were female health care workers. Out of total 80.7% and 73.2% of study participants perceived the vaccine as safe and effective respectively. The vaccine hesitancy was contributed due to apprehension for undesirable effects following immunization (19.3%). The commonest undesirable effect was pain at the injection site. The perception regarding the timing of rolling out of vaccine and readiness for COVID appropriate behavior after vaccination was significant (p < 0.001). The mean time spent at vaccination site was 33.90 (±11.34) minutes ranging 5-120 minutes (median = 35; interquartile range (IQR) = 10; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 33.50-34.30). CONCLUSIONS: The study concludes that the apprehension of undesirable effects contributed to vaccine hesitancy, but it was perceived safe and effective by health care workers. KEY MESSAGES: The vaccine hesitancy among general population and vaccine acceptance will be affected directly by instance shown by health care workers who presented themselves at the forefront both for battling the pandemic and accepting the vaccine.