key: cord-1002406-mbrt0ttr
authors: nan
title: COVID vaccination and mental health: an Indian perspective
date: 2021-11-29
journal: Asian J Psychiatr
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102950
sha: de26ddcb757664a583c18ac8c9788f91de7a834b
doc_id: 1002406
cord_uid: mbrt0ttr

nan

India started its vaccination campaign on January 16, 2021, for the prevention of the spread of the Coronavirus. The first vaccine dose was administered to a sanitation worker in New Delhi. India achieved cumulative vaccination doses of 1 billion in the general population till October 21, 2021. It has been the unified efforts of the government agencies, vaccine manufacturers, healthcare workers, and mental health professionals and vaccinated citizens that have led to this remarkable achievement. This historical landmark makes India the second country after China to achieve the target of one billion. The experience in conducting mass immunization programs in India at a national scale along with the participation of the public as well as the private and voluntary sectors aided in achieving these numbers. (Bagcchi, 2021) . The speed with which vaccines were developed has been spectacular.

Vaccines have developed in China, India, and Russia and are being distributed across the world. (Tandon, 2021) . COVID vaccination in India had observed multiple mental health issues in general population like hesitancy, fear of side effects, issues of access and stigma and misinformation. In India, even health care professionals have reported a negative view of the vaccine in the early part of the vaccination programme due to concern regarding its efficacy (Velumani, 2021) . The factors for the initial phase of poor momentum of vaccination in India were the belief that COVID-19 does not exist and large scale antivaccine movement (Samarasekera, 2021; Ransing et al,2021) . Among people who were willing to vaccinate, some hesitancy was documented regarding the safety of the vaccine (Dodd, 2021) . All over the world vaccine intention rates were inconsistent, ranging from 27.7% to 93% in different countries (Al-Amer, 2021). Inadequate mental health literacy and lower education levels among general population were contributing factors for refusal to be vaccinated in some countries (Dodd, 

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