Vaccine Behaviour and the Perception of Vaccine Among Marginalised Population in India: An Exploratory Study

The COVID-19 vaccine arrested the rapid spread of the virus and saved the lives of millions of people across the world. India was one of the worst hit countries by the pandemic. Vaccination was the only way to curb the virulence of the virus. The broad objective of the study was to understand vaccine behaviour and the perception regarding vaccines among marginalized populations. The study employed mixed-method research using an especially Semi-structured Questionnaire developed by the investigators, including open-ended and closed-ended questions. The findings revealed that 94.6% of study subjects had taken the vaccines. Among them, 10.8% had taken the first dose, 10.8% had taken the booster dose, and 78.4% had taken the second one. The thematic analysis helped the researchers ascertain the factors that facilitate the use of vaccines by many study subjects, including their positive perception of their effectiveness. An overwhelming number of them (87.3%) felt that it helped the community to remain safe and helped them to return to everyday work life. A small percentage of people did not take it due to fear of negative consequences, not believing in COVID-19, lack of awareness, displacement, and lack of accessibility. Non-availability of booster dose, lack of understanding about its availability, waiting for the due date, conformity behaviour and after effects were predominant factors for low intake of booster dose among the study subjects. Informal discussions disclosed some myths attached to vaccines, including the non-existence of COVID-19, lack of faith in vaccines, the adverse impact of vaccines on the reproductive capacity of an individual, and so on. Based on the findings, the researchers suggested several key measures to deal with similar situations in future.