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COVID Appropriate Behavior Compliance and Vaccine Hesitancy: Findings From a COVID-19 Health Education Campaign in a Government Tertiary Care Hospital in Delhi, India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2021

Aritrik Das Open the ORCID record for Aritrik Das [Opens in a new window] ,
Glory Ghai Open the ORCID record for Glory Ghai [Opens in a new window] ,
Mohd Alam ,
Geeta Pardeshi  and
Jugal Kishore
Aritrik Das*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India
Glory Ghai
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India
Mohd Alam
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India
Geeta Pardeshi
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India
Jugal Kishore
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India
*
Corresponding author: Aritrik Das, Email: dasaritrik@gmail.com
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Abstract

Public health measures remain the best available approach to tackle the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, little is currently known about the compliance and acceptance of these measures by people in India. The Department of Community Medicine at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College (VMMC), and Safdarjung Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, organized a health education campaign for raising awareness on COVID-19 in the hospital premises over a period of 15 d in May 2021. Educational and interactive sessions were conducted by medical residents, interns, and staff. Data on compliance to public health measures were collected and analyzed using SPSS 21. All quantitative variables were descriptively analyzed while qualitative data were narratively analyzed. A total of 84 (12.57%) of those observed were wearing their mask incorrectly. Social distancing was inadequate at 16 sites. Sixty-nine (10.33%) reported to have received single or both doses of vaccine. Common reasons for not getting vaccinated included doubts about vaccine efficacy, eligibility, adverse events, availability, and accessibility. Mask use was universal, but directives on correct protocol of wearing masks needs to be widely circulated. Credible information about vaccine safety, efficacy, availability, and accessibility needs to be available to the community to build confidence in COVID-19 vaccination.

Keywords

public healthvaccinationhealth educationpandemicsprimary prevention
Type
Report from the Field
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e88
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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