European Journal of Health Research (Apr 2022)
Covid-19 vaccination coverage and break through infections in urban slums of Bengaluru, India: A cross sectional study
Abstract
Background: The world health organization declared Covid-19 as pandemic on 11 March 2020. Vaccinating the people residing in urban overcrowded slums can decrease disease burden and control the Covid-19. Objectives: 1] To estimate COVID 19 vaccination coverage 2] To assess the factors responsible for COVID - 19 vaccination coverage and vaccine hesitancy 3] To study Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) pattern following COVID- 19 vaccination 4] To determine the prevalence of breakthrough infections after COVID - 19 Vaccination in urban slums of Bengaluru, India. Methodology: A community based cross sectional study was conducted in Urban slums belonging to field practice area of Akash Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bengaluru, India. After obtaining Institutional ethical clearance, data was collected from 1638 participants and analyzed using SPSS version 24. Chi square test and Fischer’s exact test was applied. Results: In present study, 35.5% (583 out of 1638) of study participants had taken COVID Vaccine of which 533 (91.42%) were partially vaccinated and 50 (8.5%) were fully Vaccinated. 63.65% vaccinated with Covishield reported adverse events and 18.6% with Covaxin. Adverse events were reported by women (74.7%) compared to men (58.6%). Vaccination coverage was high among 18 – 45 years (37.75%), males (64.86%), graduates (95.67%), clerical and skilled workers (70.75%), Upper middle socioeconomic class (72.41%) which was statistically significant. Our study reported break through infections in 7 out of 583 vaccinated with prevalence of 1.2% and was very high among partially vaccinated (85.71%) compared to fully vaccinated individuals (14.28%). Conclusion: The Covid vaccine coverage was low in urban slums. The prevalence of break through infections in our study was higher compared to available data/reports in country. Breakthrough infections was very high among partially vaccinated individuals. The most important factor for vaccine hesitancy is mild or serious adverse effects following immunization which is biggest challenge in global response against pandemic.
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