What is the extent of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Bangladesh? : A cross-sectional rapid national survey

Ali, M.; Hossain, A.

objectives: To assess COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Bangladesh and identify population subgroups with higher odds of vaccine hesitancy. design: A nationally representative cross-sectional survey was used. Univariate analysis was employed to compute vaccine hesitancy proportions and compare them across groups and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to compute the adjusted odds ratio. setting: Bangladesh participants: A total of 1134 participants from the general population, aged 18 years and above. outcome measures: Prevalence and predictors of vaccine hesitancy. results: 32.5% of participants showed COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Hesitancy was high among respondents who were males, over age 60, unemployed, from low-income families, from central Bangladesh including Dhaka, living in rented houses, tobacco users, politically affiliated, participants who did not believe in the effectiveness of the vaccine for Bangladeshis and those who did not have any physical illnesses in the last year. In the multilevel logistic regression models, respondents who were transgender (AOR= 3.62), married (AOR=1.49), tobacco users (AOR=1.33), those who did not get any physical illnesses in the last year (AOR=1.49), those with political affiliations with opposition parties (AOR= 1.48), those who believed COVID-19 vaccines will not be effective for Bangladeshis (AOR= 3.20), and those who were slightly concerned (AOR = 2.87) or not concerned at all (AOR = 7.45) about themselves or a family member getting infected with COVID-19 in the next one year were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy (p < 0.05). conclusions: Given the high prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, it is important to promote evidence-based communication, mass media campaigns, and policy initiatives across Bangladesh to reduce vaccine hesitancy among the Bangladeshi population.