CoRe study: COVID-19 and remdesivir: An insight into the current health planning and policy.

Introduction: The ongoing coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has witnessed rampant use of the repurposed drug, remdesivir, despite its conflicting evidence and rapidly changing guidelines. Methods: A cross-sectional, country-wide, questionnaire-based, electronic survey was conducted among the healthcare professionals involved in COVID-19 management from April 18 to May 18, 2021. Results: Out of 231 responses, 185 were included. Significantly, greater knowledge of trials was reported by the frontline healthcare professionals compared to those who are not involved in COVID-19 care. Medicine practitioners and pulmonologists expressed greater willingness to continue remdesivir (Odds ratio (OR) 5.329, 95% Confidence interval (CI) 2.31-12.291 and 5.063, 95% CI 1.414-18.129, respectively). The rationale attributed was personal experience, current guidelines, non-availability of any alternate antiviral drug, expert recommendations, and local hospital policy either alone (20%, 8.1%, 5.9%, 2.7%, and 2.2%, respectively) or in combination (46.5%, 39.5%, 29.2%, 21.1%, and 15.7%, respectively). Awareness of evidence and knowledge of landmark studies made no statistically significant impact on clinical decision-making. Improved clinical outcomes were reported by 10/22 (45.4%) practitioners who used remdesivir for unconventional indications. Conclusion: The study throws critical insights into the current perspectives of doctors on remdesivir in clinical management and its potential impact on current health planning strategies.

Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice towards covid-19 vaccine among healthcare workers in a tertiary care center

Background: In the current scenario of vaccine scepticism amidst India’s massive vaccination drive, assessment of knowledge and attitude of healthcare workers towards the vaccine and their appropriate training is vital to build trust in the vaccine and increase acceptance. Objectives: To study and assess Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Covid-19 Vaccine among healthcare workers in a tertiary care center. Materials & Methodology: The study was Pre & Post Questionnaire Survey. After informed consent, the responders were provided an online questionnaire for the collection of information on knowledge, attitude and practices about COVID-19 vaccines. Responses were collected both before and after the sensitisation programme. Results: The study included 366 participants with mean age of 23.25 years (SD=9.08). Our study found that there was significant change in the knowledge, attitude and willingness of the HCWs after the sensitising program. After the sensitisation, 83.7% were ready to accept that the vaccine is a good idea (compared to 65.6%). 83.7% were ready to accept that the vaccine is a good idea (compared to 65.6% pre-sensitisation). Concerns about the side effects reduced among HCWs from 53.3% to 48.3%. Willingness to take the vaccine increased from 37.7% to 69.78% after the sensitisation Also more healthcare workers were willing to recommend the vaccine to others (70.6% compared to 40.2%). Conclusion: We found that the sensitizing program showed significant change in the knowledge, attitude, and willingness among the HCWs. This provides further opportunities for development of similar educational and awareness programmes for HCWs and for the general population.