Community health workers willingness to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trials and intention to vaccinate: A cross-sectional survey in India

Kapil Goel; Arunima Sen; Parul Goel; Prakasini Satapathy; Lovely Jain; Jatina Vij; Binod Kumar Patro; Sitanshu Sekhar Kar; Venkatesan Chakrapani; Ritesh Singh; Star Pala; Lalit Sankhe; Bhavesh Modi; Surya Bali; Neeti Rustagi; Anuradha Nadda; Vineeth Rajagopal; Tanvi Kiran; Arun Kumar Aggarwal; Madhu Gupta; Bijaya Kumar Padhi

doi:10.1016/j.cegh.2022.101113

Community health workers willingness to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trials and intention to vaccinate: A cross-sectional survey in India

Clin Epidemiol Glob Health. 2022 Sep-Oct:17:101113. doi: 10.1016/j.cegh.2022.101113. Epub 2022 Jul 30.

Authors

Kapil Goel¹, Arunima Sen¹, Parul Goel², Prakasini Satapathy^{3

4}, Lovely Jain¹, Jatina Vij¹, Binod Kumar Patro⁵, Sitanshu Sekhar Kar⁶, Venkatesan Chakrapani⁷, Ritesh Singh⁸, Star Pala⁹, Lalit Sankhe¹⁰, Bhavesh Modi¹¹, Surya Bali¹², Neeti Rustagi¹³, Anuradha Nadda¹⁴, Vineeth Rajagopal¹, Tanvi Kiran¹, Arun Kumar Aggarwal¹, Madhu Gupta¹, Bijaya Kumar Padhi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India.
² Department of Biochemistry, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College Chhainsa, Faridabad, Haryana, India.
³ Department of Public Health, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
⁴ Regional Virus Research & Diagnostic Lab, Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, 160 012, India.
⁵ Department of Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
⁶ Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, 605006, India.
⁷ Centre for Sexuality and Health Research and Policy (C-SHaRP), Chennai, India.
⁸ Department of Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Kalyani, West Bengal, India.
⁹ Department of Community Medicine, North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences, (NEIGRIHMS), Mawdiangdiang, Shillong, 793018, Meghalaya, India.
¹⁰ Grant Medical College & JJ Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
¹¹ Department of Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rajkot, India.
¹² Department of Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS), Bhopal, MP, 462024, India.
¹³ Department of Community Medicine & Family Medicine, AIIMS, Jodhpur, 342005, India.
¹⁴ Department of Community Medicine, Dr B R Ambedkar Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Mohali, Punjab, India.

Abstract

Background: Vaccine hesitancy is of considerable concern as it threatens the great potential of a vaccine against COVID-19. This study aims to determine factors associated with community health workers' willingness to participate in clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine, and their vaccination intention, in India.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 377 community health workers using self-administered anonymous questionnaire during the lockdown periods in India. Participant's socio-demographics, willingness-to-participate in COVID-19 vaccine trials, intention to accept COVID-19 vaccine were recorded in a Likert scale. Data were analysed descriptively, and a multivariate logistic regression model was used to investigate factors associated with willingness to participate and accept the vaccine.

Results: Among 377 CHWs, 70 (19%) intended to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trial, 151 (40%) responded positively regarding their intention to get vaccinated. Those with knowledge on development of COVID-19 vaccine [aOR 3.05 (95% CI: 1.18-7.88), p = 0.021], and men [aOR 3.69 (95% CI: 1.51-8.97), p = 0.004] were more willing to participate in clinical-trial, while an undergraduate degree, and trust in domestic vaccines were identified as deterrents for the same. Perceiving COVID-19 as risk [aOR 2.31 (95% CI: 1.24-4.31), p = 0.009], and male gender [aOR 2.39 (95% CI: 1.17-4.88), p = 0.017] were factors associated with intention to get vaccinated. Respondents who had knowledge about COVID-19 virus were less likely to uptake the hypothetical vaccine [aOR 0.32 (95% CI: 0.12-0.88), p = 0.027].

Conclusions: Increasing knowledge regarding COVID-19 is not enough to improve vaccine acceptance rates. Targeted interventions addressing socio-demographic determinants related to COVID-19 vaccination should help improve acceptance.

Keywords: CHW, Community health worker; COVID-19, Coronavirus disease-2019; Coronavirus; Perceived risk; Vaccine acceptance; Village health workers; WHO, World Health organization; Willingness.