R Niranjjan, Nancy S, S Arulvijayavani, Saravanan Nanthini, Sathish Kumar S
Department of Community Medicine, Vinayaka Mission's Medical College and Hospital, Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation, Karaikal, IND.
Department of Biochemistry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Karaikal, IND.
Cureus. 2023 Jul 6;15(7):e41456. doi: 10.7759/cureus.41456. eCollection 2023 Jul.
The Government of India has endorsed COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant and lactating mothers. However, the vaccine acceptance rate among this target group is not satisfactory. The study aimed to assess the awareness level, acceptance rate, and hesitancy for COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant and lactating mothers attending government health care centers and to identify the psycho-social factors associated with vaccine hesitancy.
A government facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in various government primary and secondary health care centers in Karaikal for a period of six months. After Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) clearance, a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from 904 pregnant and lactating mothers. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were employed.
Despite a high awareness level (87%), vaccine hesitancy was high (55%) among the study participants. In multivariate analysis, age > 30 years, primi mothers, lactating mothers with < 6 months old children, unawareness, and recent COVID-19 infection were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy. Fear of side effects for baby and mother following vaccination and family pressure were the prime reasons for vaccine hesitancy.
Despite sufficient awareness about the eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination, the acceptance rate was low. There is a dire need to motivate the higher age group, primigravidas, and lactating mothers at the community level to get rid of their fear factors related to vaccination.
印度政府已批准为孕妇和哺乳期母亲接种新冠疫苗。然而，这一目标群体的疫苗接种接受率并不理想。本研究旨在评估在政府医疗保健中心就诊的孕妇和哺乳期母亲对新冠疫苗接种的知晓水平、接受率和犹豫程度，并确定与疫苗犹豫相关的心理社会因素。
在卡拉伊卡尔的多个政府初级和二级医疗保健中心进行了一项为期六个月的基于政府机构的横断面研究。在获得机构伦理委员会（IEC）批准后，使用半结构化问卷从904名孕妇和哺乳期母亲收集数据。采用双变量和多变量逻辑回归分析。
尽管知晓水平较高（87%），但研究参与者中的疫苗犹豫程度较高（55%）。在多变量分析中，年龄>30岁、初产妇、孩子<6个月大的哺乳期母亲、不知情以及近期感染新冠病毒与疫苗犹豫显著相关。担心接种疫苗后对婴儿和母亲产生副作用以及家庭压力是疫苗犹豫的主要原因。
尽管对新冠疫苗接种资格有足够的了解，但接受率较低。迫切需要在社区层面激励年龄较大的群体、初产妇和哺乳期母亲消除与疫苗接种相关的恐惧因素。
