Vaccination status, awareness, and its correlates among healthcare workers in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR): a mixed-method study.

INTRODUCTION

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are on the frontline of infections. To safeguard HCWs from occupational exposure to infections and to curb nosocomial infection a set of vaccines has been recommended for them by the WHO. Hence, we aimed to assess the vaccination status, awareness, and its correlates amongst HCWs in the Delhi-NCR.

METHOD

The study used a cross-sectional mixed-method approach from January to April 2023. For the quantitative arm, a structured questionnaire was circulated to the participants in conveniently-selected private and government tertiary care hospitals of the Delhi-NCR, both through e-survey using Google form, and in person, data were collected on socio-demographics, vaccination status, and awareness. SPSS version 25 was used for the analysis. For the qualitative arm, in-depth interviews were conducted and data were analyzed manually.

RESULTS

Out of 387 participants (62.8% males, 37.2% females), the awareness about the vaccines recommended for HCWs was 64.1%. However, only 15.3% of HCWs were completely aware of all the recommended vaccines. SARS CoV-2, Polio, Hepatitis B, and BCG had the highest vaccination coverage, 97.4%, 87.9%, 83.7%, and 50.9%, respectively. It was found that gender, education, type (private or governmental) of tertiary care hospital, and profession had a significance (p<0.05) on the vaccination status score and awareness of all WHO-recommended vaccines (AOR=7.6, 95% CI, 3.24-18.0). The qualitative arm further augmented the findings.

CONCLUSION

The study reveals insufficient awareness and vaccination status regarding recommended vaccines. Prioritizing the preparation of unified standard guidelines for Indian HCWs and involving concerned stakeholders is crucial.