Vaccine Hesitancy Among Rural Caregivers in Eastern India: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Department of Community Medicine, Rural Health Training Centre, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India
Corresponding Author: Saha P, Doctus Journal of Public Health.
Abstract
We surveyed 640 primary caregivers across 18 rural service areas in eastern India to quantify hesitancy toward routine childhood immunisation. Using an adapted Vaccine Hesitancy Scale, 22.3% of caregivers scored in the hesitant range. Hesitancy was independently associated with distance above 5 km from the nearest session site, absence of an accredited social health activist visit in the preceding quarter, and reliance on social media as the primary health information source. Notably, hesitancy was not associated with maternal education once distance was controlled for. Targeting outreach session frequency, rather than information campaigns alone, is likely to yield the larger coverage gain in these blocks.
Keywords
Vaccine Hesitancy; Immunisation; Rural Health; Cross-Sectional Survey; Eastern India; Health Communication
How to Cite
Saha P, Dutta N and Islam R. “Vaccine Hesitancy Among Rural Caregivers in Eastern India: A Cross-Sectional Survey”. Doctus Journal of Public Health 2.4 (2026): 07-13.
Copyright and Licence
© 2026 Saha P. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.