Explaining the intention to uptake COVID-19 vaccination using the behavioral and social drivers of vaccination (BeSD) model

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed a tool to measure behavioral and social drivers (BeSD) of vaccination uptake intentions of people across all countries. This study tests BeSD model to predict people’s intentions to uptake COVID-19 vaccination in rural India. METHODS: An online cross-sectional survey was developed for the purpose based on the components of the BeSD model, i.e., confidence, motivation, and behavioral intention. A convenient sampling technique was used to collect samples, amounting to a total of 625, from rural Bengaluru, in the Karnataka state of India. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to examine the proposed model. All respondents for the survey were in the age category of 18–68 years with a mean age of 35 years. FINDINGS: The results showed that 85% of COVID-19 vaccine uptake intentions can directly or indirectly be attributed to the government’s vaccine communication strategy, perceived threats about the vaccine, and their trust in the healthcare sector. The dimensions of the vaccine acceptance scale (motivation factors) act as a mediator between these factors and COVID-19 vaccination uptake (the behavioral factor). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates that the BeSD framework is an efficient model for predicting the COVID-19 vaccination uptake in India.