Determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and encountered side-effects among the vaccinated in Bangladesh

Objective: To identify the acceptance of the vaccine based on factors influencing the vaccination program and the side effects from vaccinated people.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey of 1 529 Bangladeshi adults(≥18 years) was conducted between 17 April, 2021 and 26 April, 2021. Statistical analysis of the data included Chi-square test and multinomial logistic regression analysis.Results: In total, 67.04% of the participants were willing to accept a COVID-19 vaccine, and 45.00% of them in our study had already received. Overall Bangladeshi people were more likely to accept COVID-19 vaccine if the vaccine reduces risk of infectious disease and has no associated health risk after receiving it. Among the respondents, religions, education level, living area(urban), belif that vaccines protect against infectious diseases and vaccines do not have health-related risk and vaccination was significantly associated with the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines. Conversely, people’s perception on development of natural immunity rather than receiving vaccines was also positively reflected. More than half(57.41%) reported minor side effects such as fever, muscle pain and headache after getting vaccine shots.Conclusions: This study revealed that the acceptance rate was influenced by socio-demographic and health-related characteristics and people are not afraid of this vaccine if they faced minor side effects after receiving it. These findings might help the government and policymakers of Bangladesh to implement necessary steps to accomplish this vaccination program effectively.