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Title: Assessment of the knowledge, preferences and concern regarding the prospective
COVID- 19 vaccine among adults residing in New Delhi, India-A cross sectional study.
Authors: Farzana Islam
1
, Rashmi Agarwalla
2
, Meely Panda
3
, Yasir Alvi
1*
, Vishal Singh
1
Arup
Debroy
4
, Arindam Ray
4
, Amruta Vadnerkar
5
, Shraddha Uttekar
5
1. Department of Community Medicine, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research
,New Delhi, India.
2. Assistant Professor, Department of Community and Family Medicine, All Indian Institute of
Medical Sciences, Guwahati, India.
3. Assistant Professor, Department of Community and Family Medicine, All Indian Institute of
Medical Sciences, Bibinagar, Telangana, India.
4. Public Health Expert
5. Project Manager, International Paediatric Association
*Corresponding author
Dr Yasir Alvi
Department of Community Medicine
Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research
New Delhi
Email: yasiralvi13@gmail.com
Phone: 9897292825
. CC-BY-NC 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a
is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)
The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted January 26, 2021. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.23.21250164doi: medRxiv preprint
NOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice.
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Abstract
Background
Understanding the perception and concerns of people about COVID-19 vaccine in developing
and populous country like India will help in understanding demand for the vaccine and further
tailoring out public health information and education activities before the launch of the vaccine.
The study was carried out to assess the present state of knowledge people have about the
probable vaccine for COVID-19, to know the preferences of respondents about this vaccine and
to learn the expectations and apprehensions of people about features of this prospective COVID-
19 vaccine residing in the capital city of India.
Methods
This cross-sectional study was conducted amongst the residents of Delhi, India from July-
October 2020. Both offline and online interview method was used to collect date from 513
participants representing various occupational strata. Data was collected on socio demographic
variable, vaccine acceptance and concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccine.
Results
Among the study population 79.5% said they will take the vaccine while 8.8% said they were not
going to take the vaccine and remaining 11.7% had not yet decided about it. Most of
them(78.8%),believed that vaccine would be available to public next year but at the same time
half(50.1%) of them believe that it may not be in sufficient amount for everyone to get. More
than 50% were willing to pay for the vaccine and 72% felt vaccine should first be given to health
workers and high risk group.
Conclusion
The following study has helped to understand the percentage of people who are hesitant to take
the vaccine and also the concerns regarding the vaccine. Also since half of the population is
willing to pay for the vaccine, a strategical approach considering the various economical classes
of people could be applied in a developing country like India.
Key words: Vaccine acceptance; COVID-19; New Delhi ; India
Introduction
. CC-BY-NC 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a
is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)
The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted January 26, 2021. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.23.21250164doi: medRxiv preprint
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COVID-19, as we know today is one of the biggest challenge mankind has faced in the century.
The disease has jolted the entire world with more than 1 million deaths occurring worldwide.
[1]
India reported 88,74,290 cases and 1,30,519 deaths as on 17
th
Nov 2020.
[2]
There has been
extensive global efforts to combat the pandemic. Efforts in resource constrained setting like India
have also been multidimensional.
[3]
However, the disease has caused huge economic loss and
has left the entire world socially crippled.
As mentioned by various epidemiologists the virus is here to stay. In such situations acquiring
immunity against the virus becomes essential. Immunity can be acquired in two ways, either
naturally or through vaccine. In the current pandemic the role of safe and effective COVID-19
will be very vital in the fight against COVID-19.Progress and claims about the vaccine trials
have been mooted by several epidemiologist and medical experts, yet it is that opportunity which
mankind has nailed all his hope upon.
[4]
The present pandemic situation warrants a potential
accelerated timeline for development of vaccine with overlapping of phases and emergency use
authorization.
[4]
Till October end two vaccines have been approved. Also, the Moderna, m RNA
– 1273 and the AstraZeneca/Oxford – ChAdOxl nCoV-19 have already entered the phase III.
India’s candidate vaccines COVAXIN and ZyCov-D which are in the pathway of progress to be
able to deliver us immunity have moved over to phase II/III trials. Preliminary findings show a
vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech can prevent more than 90% of people from getting
Covid-19 and Moderna vaccine has claimed 94.5% efficacy in its interim analysis.
[5]
WHO
estimates a total cost of 8 billion USD to develop a suite of three or more vaccines having
different technologies and distribution to prevent COVID – 19 worldwide.
[6]
However, the
efficacy, frequency, safety, preferences and precautions are some such queries that every
individual whoever counts on the hope of vaccine advent, harbours in his mind.
. CC-BY-NC 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a
is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)
The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted January 26, 2021. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.23.21250164doi: medRxiv preprint
4
Advent of any vaccine confronts plenty of issues. Based on prior studies about advent of other
vaccines, we could enumerate that hurdles occur at the level of Vaccine – like production,
manufacture, trials, marketing, safety and cold chain maintenance. Ethics and efficacy or
beneficiary – like acceptance, fear, compliance, willingness to pay, site predilection or an
apprehension for any adverse effects. Vaccine acceptance is a social tool which plays an
important role for advent, implementation and continuation of any vaccination programme.
[7,8]
Accounting for the perception of people about vaccine advent will give empirical details about
their aspirations and apprehensions. Considering factors like willingness to pay will help in
considering the financial constraints and economies into consideration before a large scale bulk
production. Decisions like whom to administer first, where and how to administer, cost
constraints, willingness to come out to health facilities for getting the shots or volunteering to be
part of such trials will further ease the policy and programmatic commitments. Thus this study is
being conducted with the objectives to assess the present state of knowledge people have about
the probable vaccine for COVID-19, to know the preferences of respondents about this vaccine
and to learn the expectations and apprehensions of people about features of this prospective
COVID-19 vaccine residing in the capital city of India.
Materials and Methods
Study design, setting and participants
The cross-sectional quantitative study was carried out among the residents of Delhi, North India
from July-October 2020.
Various sections of society were taken.
Occupation such as: All staff in health work force including doctors, nurses, paramedics
and health workers
. CC-BY-NC 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a
is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)
The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted January 26, 2021. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.23.21250164doi: medRxiv preprint
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Staff in corporate sectors including engineers, technicians, managers and leaders etc
Business class including Shopkeepers, owners, delivery boys, Managers etc…
Education sector – who constitute a major chunk and play major role in taking care of
young ones like teachers, principal and tutors etc.
Sample size: In such a dynamic scenario where figures escalate and slump on a day to day basis,
considering the rule of assumptions a prevalence of 50 % was considered and Schwartz formula
was applied. At 90% power and 95% confidence interval, the sample size came out to be 400.
Considering a non-response rate of 10 %, sample size of 440 was obtained and further rounded
of to 500.A total of 513 participants responded.
Procedure
Respondents above 18 years of age, who consented, were included in the study, which was either
conducted physically as an interview or using online technique, depending on the respondent’s
convenience.
For the physical interview method, individuals were selected by simple random sampling from
among these strata’s so as to reach our estimated sample size. After a brief training, the
interviewer collected data from these subjects by a semi structured questionnaire which was pre-
tested and expert validated.
Online method: For those individuals who consented but had time constraint, we wilfully
administered the questionnaire to them in Microsoft forms and awaited response from them via
the link provided. The terms not understood by them were clarified and explained to them over
phone. All terms of ethical consideration, beneficence, autonomy and confidentiality was
followed.
. CC-BY-NC 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a
is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)
The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted January 26, 2021. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.23.21250164doi: medRxiv preprint
