COVID-19 risk of infection and vaccination during Ramadan fasting: knowledge and attitudes of Bangladeshi general population.

ABSTRACT

There is some debate whether COVID-19 infection and vaccination will hamper Ramadan among the Muslim population worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the total proportion of the Bangladeshi population who has adequate knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19 risk of infections and vaccination during Ramadan fasting. A cross-sectional study had conducted among 502 adult participants of Bangladesh. We have used a structured questionnaire which had implemented through a face-to-face interview by trained data collectors. Data were analyzed using statistical package software SPSS version 25.0. Of the 502 participants, 50.2% were male, and most (49.6%) lived in urban areas. About 72.5% and 76.30% reported having adequate knowledge and a positive attitude, respectively, regarding COVID-19 risk of infection and vaccination during Ramadan fasting. Among all variables, no formal education and up to class 8 education had significantly associated with inadequate knowledge (OR = 5.14, 95% CI = 1.63-16.19, and OR = 6.42, 95% CI = 2.55-16.19). Educational status was also associated with attitude (OR = 3.68, 95%CI = 1.17-11.55). Current smokers reported a negative attitude in comparison to non-smokers (OR = 2.48, 95% CI = 1.36-4.50). In conclusion, our study found overall moderate knowledge and attitude among the Bangladeshi population towards COVID-19 infection and vaccination. Government should continue its efforts to increase the knowledge and attitude level to a higher level, and anti-smoking campaigns should strengthen to make people stop smoking to reduce the COVID-19 severity.