Autor: |
Lovely Jain, Jatina Vij, Prakasini Satapathy, Venkatesan Chakrapani, Binod Patro, Sitanshu Sekhar Kar, Ritesh Singh, Star Pala, Lalit Sankhe, Bhavesh Modi, Surya Bali, Neeti Rustagi, Vineeth Rajagopal, Tanvi Kiran, Kapil Goel, Arun Kumar Aggarwal, Madhu Gupta, Bijaya Kumar Padhi |
Jazyk: |
angličtina |
Rok vydání: |
2021 |
Předmět: |
|
Zdroj: |
Frontiers in Public Health, Vol 9 (2021) |
Druh dokumentu: |
article |
ISSN: |
2296-2565 |
DOI: |
10.3389/fpubh.2021.735902 |
Popis: |
Background: Students act as messengers in delivering effective messages for better uptake of health-promoting behavior. Understanding their knowledge about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), intentions to use the COVID-19 vaccine, and its associated factors will help develop promising strategies in vaccine promotion concerning the current COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was carried out among students in the healthcare and non-healthcare sectors to assess their intentions to get vaccinated against the COVID-19. A non-probability snowball sampling technique was used to recruit study participants (N = 655) through social media platforms and emails. Study participants were recruited across the country, including six major geographical regions (Eastern, Western, Northern, Southern, North-east, and Central) in India between November 2020 and January 2021 before the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine. Descriptive statistics were used to present the sociodemographic, and vaccine-related behaviors of the study participants. Key determinants that likely predict vaccine acceptance among students were modeled using logistic regression analysis. For each analysis, p < 0.05 was considered significant.Results: A total of 655 students were recruited, 323 from healthcare and 332 from non-healthcare sectors, to assess their intentions to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Of the 655 students, 63.8% expressed intentions to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The acceptance was higher among non-healthcare students (54.07 vs. 45.93%). At the time of the study, 27.8% of the students indicated that they had been exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 patient. A vast majority (93.4%) of the students knew about the COVID-19 virus, and most (89.3%) of them were aware of the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. The history of vaccine hesitancy was found to be low (17.1%). Only one-third (33.4%) of the students showed concern about contracting COVID-19. Trust in the healthcare system [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 4.13; (95% CI: 2.83–6.04), p < 0.00] and trust in domestic vaccines [aOR: 1.46; (95% CI: 1.02–2.08), p < 0.05] emerged as the significant predictors of student's intention to get vaccinated. Higher acceptance for vaccine was observed among students in the non-healthcare [aOR: 1.982; 95% CI: 1.334–2.946, p < 0.00].Conclusion: This study shows that the Indian college students had relatively high levels of positive intentions to receive COVID-19 vaccines, although about one-third were not sure or unwilling to receive the vaccine, highlighting possible vaccine hesitancy. Informational campaigns and other strategies to address vaccine hesitancy are needed to promote uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. |
Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
Externí odkaz: |
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