Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India.
Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2021 Dec 2;17(12):5024-5029. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2021.2000262. Epub 2021 Nov 30.
The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has spread rampantly throughout India between April and May 2021, leading to high mortality rates. Identifying any change in the rate of vaccine hesitancy or refusal due to such mass casualty events will provide further insights on developing appropriate risk communication strategy. Hence, this study was undertaken to identify the vaccine hesitancy and refusal before and during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a longitudinal study among 900 adults to know about their vaccine hesitancy and refusal pattern before (March 2021 - round-1) and during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic (May 2021 - round-2). Telephonic interview was conducted using the pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. There was an increase in the vaccine hesitancy (27.8% in round-1 to 32.7% in round-2) and refusal (25.6% in round-1 to 35.6% in round-2) during the second wave of pandemic in Puducherry. In adjusted analysis, vaccine hesitancy was found to increase by 1.19 times during the round-2 survey compared to round-1 survey (aIRR = 1.19; 95%CI: 1.03-1.37). We also found that the vaccine refusal increased by 1.40 times during the round-2 survey compared to round-1 survey (aIRR = 1.40; 95%CI: 1.22-1.62) after adjusting for age, place of residence, and occupation. We found that the confidence in COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and safety has declined over time leading to increase in the vaccine hesitancy and refusal in our study cohort, with more than one-third refusing to get themselves vaccinated during the second wave of pandemic.
2021 年 4 月至 5 月，第二波 COVID-19 疫情在印度迅速蔓延，导致死亡率居高不下。识别由于此类大规模伤亡事件导致的疫苗犹豫或拒绝率的任何变化，将为制定适当的风险沟通策略提供进一步的见解。因此，本研究旨在确定 COVID-19 第二波疫情前后的疫苗犹豫和拒绝情况。我们在 900 名成年人中进行了一项纵向研究，以了解他们在 COVID-19 第二波疫情之前（2021 年 3 月-第 1 轮）和期间（2021 年 5 月-第 2 轮）的疫苗犹豫和拒绝模式。使用预先测试的半结构式问卷进行电话访谈。在本地，第二波疫情期间的疫苗犹豫率（第 1 轮的 27.8%到第 2 轮的 32.7%）和拒绝率（第 1 轮的 25.6%到第 2 轮的 35.6%）有所增加。在调整分析中，与第 1 轮调查相比，第 2 轮调查中的疫苗犹豫率增加了 1.19 倍（调整后的发病率比 aIRR = 1.19；95%CI：1.03-1.37）。我们还发现，与第 1 轮调查相比，第 2 轮调查中的疫苗拒绝率增加了 1.40 倍（调整后的发病率比 aIRR = 1.40；95%CI：1.22-1.62），同时调整了年龄、居住地和职业。我们发现，随着时间的推移，对 COVID-19 疫苗有效性和安全性的信心下降，导致我们研究队列中的疫苗犹豫和拒绝率增加，超过三分之一的人在第二波疫情期间拒绝接种疫苗。
