ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many facets of human behavior, including human mobility partially driven by the implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as stay at home orders, travel restrictions, and workplace and school closures. Given the importance of human mobility in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, there have been an increase in analyses of mobility data to understand the COVID-19 pandemic to date. However, despite an abundance of these analyses, few have focused on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Here, we use mobile phone calling data to provide a spatially refined analysis of sub-national human mobility patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020-July 2021 in Zambia. Overall, among highly trafficked intra-province routes, mobility decreased up to 52% from March-May 2020 compared to baseline, which was also the time period of the strictest NPIs. However, despite dips in mobility during the first wave of COVID-19 cases, mobility returned to baseline levels and did not drop again suggesting COVID-19 cases did not influence mobility in subsequent waves.
ABSTRACT
BackgroundRemarkable scientific progress has enabled expeditious development of effective vaccines against COVID-19. While healthcare workers (HCWs) have been at the frontlines for the pandemic response, vaccine acceptance amongst them needs further study. MethodsA web-based survey to assess vaccine acceptance and preparedness in India was disseminated to HCWs working in various settings between January and February 2021, shortly after the launch of Indias vaccination campaign. Descriptive statistics were used to examine respondent demographics and Likert scale responses. Binomial logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with vaccine acceptance. ResultsThe survey yielded 624 respondents from 25 states and five union territories in India; 53.5% were male, and median age was 37 years (IQR 32-46). Amongst all respondents, 84.1% (525/624) supported COVID-19 vaccines, and 63.2% (141/223) of those unvaccinated at the time of survey administration were willing to accept a vaccine. Reliability on government sources, healthcare providers or scientific journal articles for COVID-19 related information was reported by 66.8%, while confidence in social media for this information was reported by only 4.5%. Factors independently associated with vaccine acceptance included advancing age (aOR 3.50 [95% CI, 1.04-11.76] for those above 45 years), evidence of vaccine effectiveness and safety (aOR 3.78 [95% CI 1.15-12.38]), and provision of free/no-cost vaccine (aOR 2.63 [95% CI, 1.06-6.50]). Most respondents (80%) were confident about their hospital being equipped to efficiently rollout COVID-19 vaccines to the general population. ConclusionsOverall attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and preparedness were positive among HCWs in India, although acceptance was lower among healthier and younger HCWs. Data availability on vaccine safety and effectiveness, and cost considerations were important for acceptance. Targeted interventions are needed to improve vaccine acceptance amongst HCWs, since they are critical in promoting vaccine acceptance amongst the general population.
