Few COVID-19 vaccines were anticipated in India in early 2021. However, little was known about COVID-19 vaccination acceptance among the public. A group of researchers at D. Y. Patil Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research (Pune), Babaria Institute of Pharmacy (Vadodara), KLE College of Pharmacy (Belagavi) and a few others, conducted a nationwide study to understand the public’s perception about COVID-19 vaccines.

An online survey was deployed using a multi-item validated questionnaire via social media websites and networking platforms for adults in India. The researchers asked participants about vaccination willingness, concerns about vaccination, and their sociodemographic characteristics.

While the majority of Indians would accept the vaccine, given the large population of India, even a small proportion of hesitant individuals would translate to millions of unvaccinated individuals.

According to the researchers, strategic measures and policy decisions to enhance the rate of COVID-19 vaccination should be continuously planned and implemented in India.

"Even a modest rate of vaccine hesitancy in India could translate to millions of COVID-19 vaccination refusing people across the nation leading to emerging variants and regular outbreaks for a long time in the future", said the researchers.