18% Indians know people who couldn’t get vaccine in April, 56% want more options: Survey

LocalCircles survey also finds dip in vaccine hesitancy with 77% expressing an interest in taking the shot.

A worker in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh receives the Covid-19 vaccine | Representational image: ANI File photo

New Delhi: Eighteen per cent citizens say either they or someone in their social network could not find a Covid-19 vaccine dose when they went to get vaccinated in the first 10 days of April, a new survey has found.

About 56 per cent of respondents also indicated their preference for foreign vaccines such as Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (J&J), and want the vaccine to be available in India by June.

Conducted by community social media platform Local Circles, the survey gave an insight into India’s vaccine drive amid reports of shortages in the country. The results are based on over 24,000 responses from individuals residing in 255 districts of India. Of these, 67 per cent respondents were men while 33 per cent were women, 46 per cent from tier 1 cities, 27 per cent from tier 2 and 27 per cent from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

LocalCircles, in its study, said it will escalate the findings with key stakeholders in the central government.

Decline in vaccine hesitancy could be behind supply issue

To the question if anyone in one’s social network faced a scenario in the first 10 days of April that a vaccine centre was out of stock, 6 per cent said it “happened with 4 or more individuals in my social network”, another 6 per cent said it “happened with 2-3 individuals in my social network”, while another 6 per cent said it “happened with 1 individual in my social network”.

However, 76 per cent said it “did not happen with anyone”, while 6 per cent “couldn’t’ say”.

The cumulative response showed that 18 per cent of citizens had someone in their social network who could not get a vaccine dose when they went for vaccination in the first 10 days of April. This question in the survey received 9,016 responses.

The survey also notes that given that there has been a “decline in vaccine hesitancy” over the last few weeks, that could be contributing to the demand-supply mismatch.

“It must also be noted that as the second wave of Covid strengthened in India, 77% of citizens in the LocalCircles survey in April expressed interest in taking the vaccine. The number stood at 38% when India started its vaccination drive thereby marking a major decline in vaccine hesitancy in the 80 days period,” the survey noted.

The survey pointed out that many senior citizens got their first vaccine dose in early March, and so were scheduled for their second dose in the first 10 days of April.

“18% of citizens or their family/friends facing the issue of going to a vaccination centre but not getting the vaccine is something that must be looked into by the Central and State Governments. The shortage may be due to sub-optimal local distribution, while it is also possible that certain centers or locations have a genuine shortage,” they survey stated.

56% want more vaccine options

Given reports of vaccine shortages in the country, 56 per cent respondents said that US-based vaccines such as Moderna, Pfizer and J&J should conduct trials such that these vaccines can also be made available in India by June.

In the US, not only are Moderna, Pfizer and J&J available to citizens but so are vaccines from Novavax and AstraZeneca. Taking a cue from what other countries are doing to make as many vaccines available to their citizens, the survey sought India’s view on whether the government should take a similar approach.

While 56 per cent said ‘yes’, 33 per cent said ‘no’ and 11 per cent opted for ‘couldn’t say’. This question in the survey received 15,233 responses.

(Edited by Manasa Mohan)