The Impact of COVID-19 Vaccine Communication, Acceptance, and Practices (CO-VIN-CAP) on Vaccine Hesitancy in an Indian Setting: Protocol for a Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 vaccines are considered to be a key to limiting and eliminating the infectious disease. However, the success of the vaccination program will rely on the rates of vaccine acceptance among the population. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the factors that influence vaccine hesitancy and vaccine acceptance, and to explore the unintended consequences of COVID-19 infections. The study will further explore the association between sociodemographic characteristics; health status; COVID-19–related knowledge, attitude, and practices; and its influence on vaccine hesitancy and acceptance among individuals living in urban and rural settings of Chennai, Tamil Nadu in the southern state of India. METHODS: A cross-sectional study will be conducted between January 2021 and January 2023. A sample of approximately 25,000 individuals will be recruited and enrolled using a nonprobability complete enumeration sampling method from 11 selected urban and rural settings of Chennai. The data will be collected at one time point by administering the questionnaire to the eligible study participants. The collected data will be used to assess the rates of vaccine acceptance; hesitancy; and knowledge, attitudes, practices, and beliefs regarding COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Lastly, the study questionnaire will be used to assess the unintended consequences of COVID-19 infection. RESULTS: A pilot of 2500 individuals has been conducted to pretest the survey questionnaire. The data collection was initiated on March 1, 2021, and the initial results are planned for publication by June 2021. Descriptive analysis of the gathered data will be performed using SAS v9.1, and reporting of the results will be done at 95% CIs and P=.049. The study will help explore the burden of vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among individuals living in urban and rural settings of Chennai. Further, it will help to examine the variables that influence vaccine acceptance and hesitancy. Lastly, the findings will help to design and develop a user-centered informatics platform that can deliver multimedia-driven health education modules tailored to facilitate vaccine uptake in varied settings. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed study will help in understanding the rate and determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among the population of Chennai. The findings of the study would further facilitate the development of a multifaceted intervention to enhance vaccine acceptance among the population. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/29733