Parthasarathi Ashwaghosha, Puvvada Rahul Krishna, Shankar Malavika, Siddaiah Jayaraj Biligere, Ganguly Koustav, Upadhyay Swapna, Mahesh Padukudru Anand
Allergy, Asthma and Chest Centre, Krishnamurthypuram, Mysore 570004, India.
Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Microbiology, College of Science Health and Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia.
Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Jul 8;10(7):1095. doi: 10.3390/vaccines10071095.
To achieve herd immunity to a disease, a large portion of the population needs to be vaccinated, which is possible only when there is broad acceptance of the vaccine within the community. Thus, policymakers need to understand how the general public will perceive the vaccine. This study focused on the degree of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal and explored sociodemographic correlations that influence vaccine hesitancy and refusal. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among the adult population of India. The survey consisted of basic demographic questions and questions from the Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) Scale. Multinomial logistical regression was used to identify correlates of vaccine hesitancy and refusal. Of the 1582 people in the study, 9% refused to become vaccinated and 30.8% were hesitant. We found that both hesitancy and refusal predictors were nearly identical (lower socioeconomic status, female gender, and older age groups), except for three groups (subjects aged 45−64 years, those with approximate income <10,000 INR/month, and those residing in rural households) that showed slightly higher odds of vaccine hesitancy than refusal. We need to address the underlying sociodemographic determinants and formulate public awareness programs to address specific subgroups that are at higher risk of rejecting the vaccine and convert those who are undecided or hesitant into those willing to accept the vaccine.
为实现对某种疾病的群体免疫，需要很大一部分人口接种疫苗，而这只有在社区内广泛接受该疫苗时才有可能实现。因此，政策制定者需要了解公众对疫苗的看法。本研究聚焦于新冠疫苗犹豫和拒绝的程度，并探究了影响疫苗犹豫和拒绝的社会人口学相关性。在印度成年人群体中开展了一项横断面在线调查。该调查包括基本人口统计学问题以及来自疫苗接种态度调查（VAX）量表的问题。采用多项逻辑回归来确定疫苗犹豫和拒绝的相关因素。在该研究的1582人中，9%的人拒绝接种疫苗，30.8%的人犹豫不决。我们发现，犹豫和拒绝的预测因素几乎相同（社会经济地位较低、女性以及年龄较大的群体），不过有三组人（45 - 64岁的人群、月收入约低于10,000印度卢比的人群以及农村家庭居民）表现出的疫苗犹豫几率略高于拒绝几率。我们需要解决潜在的社会人口学决定因素，并制定公众意识项目，以针对那些拒绝接种疫苗风险较高的特定亚组人群，并将那些未做决定或犹豫不决的人转变为愿意接种疫苗的人。
