Perception of Availability, Accessibility, and Affordability of COVID-19 Vaccines and Hesitancy: A Cross-Sectional Study in India
Akshay Ayappan,
Bijaya Kumar Padhi,
Ananthesh L.,
Raushan Kumar Chaudhary,
Uday Venkat Mateti,
Adithi Kellarai,
Mazhuvanchery Kesavan Unnikrishnan,
Jaclyn Drishal Dsouza,
Ali Davod Parsa,
Russell Kabir,
Ranjit Sah
Affiliations
Akshay Ayappan
Department of Pharmacy Practice, NGSM Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (NGSMIPS), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru 575018, India
Bijaya Kumar Padhi
Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India
Ananthesh L.
Department of Pharmacy Practice, NGSM Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (NGSMIPS), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru 575018, India
Raushan Kumar Chaudhary
Department of Pharmacy Practice, NGSM Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (NGSMIPS), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru 575018, India
Uday Venkat Mateti
Department of Pharmacy Practice, NGSM Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (NGSMIPS), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru 575018, India
Adithi Kellarai
Department of General Medicine, KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), Justice K S Hegde Charitable Hospital, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru 575018, India
Mazhuvanchery Kesavan Unnikrishnan
Department of Pharmacy Practice, NGSM Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (NGSMIPS), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru 575018, India
Jaclyn Drishal Dsouza
Department of Pharmacy Practice, NGSM Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (NGSMIPS), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru 575018, India
Ali Davod Parsa
School of Allied Health, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford CM11SQ, UK
Russell Kabir
School of Allied Health, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford CM11SQ, UK
Ranjit Sah
Department of Microbiology, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Background: The current study aimed to identify the perceptions and issues regarding the affordability, availability, and accessibility of COVID-19 vaccination and determine the extent of vaccine hesitancy among non-vaccinated individuals. Methods: A Prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among 575 individuals for a period of six months. All the relevant information was collected using the peer-validated survey questionnaire. An independent t-test was applied to check the association between variables. Results: Among 575 participants, 80.8% were vaccinated, and 19.2% were non-vaccinated. Among the vaccinated, 35.1% were vaccinated in private centres and 64.9% in public health centres (PHC). In total, 32% had accessibility issues and 24.5% had availability issues. However, responders vaccinated at PHC were having more issues in comparison to other groups which was statistically significant (p Conclusions: Individuals vaccinated at PHC experienced issues such as long waiting times, unavailability of doses, and registration. Further, a significant level of hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines was observed. The safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines contributed to negative attitudes.
