COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy and Associated Factors among Pakistani Population

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has caused global healthcare and economic crises and mass vaccination to acquire herd immunity seem to be the only solution. Present study aimed to evaluate the intent of Pakistani population towards vaccination and to uncover the barriers associated with vaccine reluctance. This cross-sectional study included responses of 855 Pakistani residents. Respondents’ knowledge of COVID-19 infection, intent of vaccination and barriers towards vaccine refusal were evaluated. Participants were categorized on the basis of knowledge score, risk of disease and other demographic characteristics. Descriptive statistics were used for calculating frequencies and percentages, means and Chi-square test was utilized for cross-tabulation. A multinomial logistic regression model was executed to identify the predictors of vaccination intention. Significance level was set at the p-value of ? 0.05. Prevalence of vaccine refusal was 40%. COVID-19 vaccine is not Halal, negative propaganda on social media against the vaccine, discouraging advice from social circle and clerics, concerns regarding efficacy, fear of immediate and late adverse reactions were the major barriers identified towards vaccine hesitancy. Around one-third of the study population did not consider COVID-19 as a serious disease and associate it with conspiracy theory. The mean score of participants towards COVID-19 knowledge was 5.5±1.6 (range: 0-9). Having a college degree, living in an urban area, working in a healthcare field and being in a higher risk category increases the chances of vaccine acceptability.