COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among undergraduate medical students: results from a nationwide survey in India

Abstract

COVID-19 vaccine was launched in India on 16 January 2021, prioritizing health care workers which included medical students. We aimed to assess vaccine hesitancy and factors related to it among undergraduate medical students in India. An online questionnaire was filled by 1068 medical students across 22 states and union territories of India from 2 February to 7 March 2021. Vaccine hesitancy was found among 10.6%. Concern regarding vaccine safety and efficacy, hurried testing of vaccines prior to launch and lack of trust in government agencies predicted COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Risk perception regarding contracting COVID-19 vaccine reduced COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy as well as hesitation in participating in COVID-19 vaccine trials. Choosing between the two available vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) was considered important by medical students both for themselves and their future patients. Covishield was preferred to Covaxin by students. Majority of those willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine felt that it was important for them to resume their clinical posting, face-to-face classes and get their personal life back on track. Around three-fourths medical students viewed that COVID-19 vaccine should be made mandatory for both health care workers and international travellers. Prior adult vaccination did not have an effect upon COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Targeted awareness campaigns, regulatory oversight of vaccine trials and public release of safety and efficacy data and trust building activities could further reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among medical students.

Global Prevalence and Drivers of Dental Students’ COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

“…The findings of Verger et al (2021) were a bit close to what had been found in Malta (22%), Portugal (21%), Germany (20%), the Netherlands (19%), and Italy (19%) [38,39]. On the other hand, the studies that sampled general university students showed a wide range of hesitancy about COVID-19 vaccines, ranging between Egypt (46%), Jordan (25.5%), Malta (25.3%), the USA (19.3%), and India (10.6%) [21,[40][41][42][43].…”

“Fake news”, religion, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh

“…District level data are unavailable as people do not have access to data about vaccination centers, daily vaccination, or adverse events in their district. In the case of India, even the Aarogya Setu app which is supposed to have all the needed information about the pandemic and vaccination does not have this important information (Jain et al, 2021). Another factor is lack of limited information about side effects of vaccines (Mahmud et al, 2021;Jain et al, 2021).…”

“…Since it has been just a few months before they came out, people are afraid that the vaccines can have adverse long-term effects on their health if they get vaccinated (Jain et al, 2021). They are also afraid of short-term effects because of limited information (Mehdi, 2021).…”

“…Ambiguous information about cause of such deaths or illnesses further makes people hesitant (Raghavan, 2021). Jain et al (2021) found that the undergraduate medical students' non-consent in providing vaccine registration data was also a factor for being hesitant about the vaccine. It was observed that for nonmedical people, vaccine hesitancy is mainly due to other reasons like conspiracy theories and mis/disinformation making rounds on the internet and social media.…”

“…It was observed that for nonmedical people, vaccine hesitancy is mainly due to other reasons like conspiracy theories and mis/disinformation making rounds on the internet and social media. For those in medical field, lack of vaccine-related information including efficacy and safety data, and the rushed manner in which vaccines were launched are the major reasons (Jain et al, 2021).…”