Perceptions About COVID-19 Disease and Vaccination Against it Among Adults in Lahore

Background: Vaccination against COVID-19 disease is the best available option for its prevention. However, many people in Pakistan were hesitant to get vaccinated against this disease. Objective: The main aim of this study was to find out the perceptions of people in Lahore about COVID-19 disease and vaccination against it. Methods: In a cross-sectional design, a questionnaire comprising of 40 questions was administered to 420 working class adults (18-70 years; both males and females) in Western Lahore with informed consent. Data were analyzed by using various statistical tests including logistic regression. A p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Eighty percent of the respondents got vaccinated against COVID-19 disease. Protection against the disease was the main reason to get vaccination. The odds of vaccination against COVID-19 was 3.14 times more among assistants (a job level between manager and worker) compared to workers adjusted for age, gender, conveyance, place of living, income, education, and smoking (AOR=3.14;95% CI; 1.49-6.64). The odds of vaccination against COVID-19 was 1.88 more among participants owning their home compared to participants living in rental places, adjusted for age, gender, conveyance, income, education, and smoking (AOR=1.88;95% CI; 1.01-3.49). Similarly, odds of having vaccinated were more than 7 times and 6 times among those with high school education and college level education compared to illiterate subjects after adjustment with covariates (AOR=7.55, 95% of CI; 2.26-25.21 and AOR=5.97;95% of CI; 1.87-19.11, respectively). Conclusion: Acceptance of vaccination against COVID-19 was quite high (80%) among working middle class adults in Lahore.