Publication: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: A narrative review of four South Asian countries
dc.contributor.author | Ennab, Farah | |
dc.contributor.author | Zary, Nabil | |
dc.contributor.author | Nawaz, Faisal A. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2023-05-08T06:47:54Z | |
dc.date.available | 2023-05-08T06:47:54Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2022 | |
dc.description.abstract | Objectives: Vaccine hesitancy remains a global issue, especially within poverty-stricken countries where there’s an interplay of financial and nonfinancial barriers. This narrative review aims to understand attitudes and behaviors toward COVID-19 vaccination in four South Asian countries and make context-specific recommendations to vaccine program drivers and decision-makers. Methods: A search was conducted using PubMed and Science Direct, and CINHAL from January 2020 up to May 2022 restricted to the English language for terms: “Afghanistan” OR “Pakistan” OR “India” OR “Bangladesh” in combination with “COVID-19 vaccine” and other related terms. All articles were initially included, and those with relevance were included in the synthesis of this paper. Results: A narrative review was performed for this study. Our narrative review included a total of eighteen studies with a sample size (n = 223–5,237) averaging about 1,325 participants per study conducted. The studies included revealed public hesitancy to receive the COVID-19 vaccine ranging from 6.3 to 56.2% with an average of 31.63% across all eighteen studies. Several reasons were linked to this observation in these four South Asian countries, and the predominant ones included: Insufficient information provided to the general public about the side effects of the vaccines, concerns regarding vaccine safety, and skepticism of vaccine efficacy. Conclusion: Vaccine hesitancy is a global problem within the context of COVID-19, and issues regarding equity, misinformation, and poverty in South Asian countries makes it di cult to meet goals for herd immunity. Policymakers and governments should aim toward financial and non-financial incentives to drive the public toward vaccination. | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | 204-2022.156 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://repository.mbru.ac.ae/handle/1/1208 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.subject | COVID-19 | en_US |
dc.subject | Vaccine Hesitancy | en_US |
dc.subject | Public Perspectives | en_US |
dc.subject | Public Opinion | en_US |
dc.subject | South Asia | en_US |
dc.title | COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: A narrative review of four South Asian countries | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |
dspace.entity.type | Publication | en_US |