COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Medical Students of North Delhi, India

India has managed to successfully develop and approve two vaccines for COVID-19, namely COVAXIN and Covishield. The vaccine hesitancy phenomenon is seen even among healthcare professionals. Acceptance of vaccination by healthcare or medical students is also of paramount importance. To find out the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy and associated factors in medical students of North Delhi, India, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 210 undergraduate students from a medical college in New Delhi. The questionnaire consisted of questions about identification data, history of COVID-19 infection, and vaccine hesitancy. The collected data was analyzed in SPSS software (version 21.0), and Chi-square test was used for categorical data analysis. Among the study participants, the majority of them (77.6%) belonged to the age group of 20-25 years, and most of them were males (63.3%). The prevalence of vaccine hesitancy was 27.6% among the study participants. Factors such as semesters, mother's education, and mother's occupation of the study participants were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy regarding COVID-19 (P<0.05). Serious side effects, vaccine effectiveness, and recent events in the past were the reasons for vaccine hesitancy. Based on the findings of the present study, about one-fourth of the participants were vaccine-hesitant. Semesters, mother's education, and mother's occupation of study participants were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy regarding the COVID-19 vaccine (P<0.05). About one-fourth of the participants mentioned serious side effects as the reason for vaccine hesitancy. Introduction to an education curriculum in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) can enhance students' knowledge regarding COVID-19 vaccines and their preventive aspects for the future.