Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of pregnant women regarding COVID ‐19 vaccination in pregnancy in 7 low and middle‐income countries: An observational trial from the Global Network

We sought to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of pregnant women regarding COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy in 7 low and middle-income countries (LMIC).Prospective, observational, population-based study SETTINGS: Study areas in 7 LMICs: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Guatemala, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, and Zambia POPULATION: Pregnant women in an ongoing registry.COVID-19 vaccine questionnaires were administered to pregnant women in the Global Network's Maternal Newborn Health Registry from Feb 2021 through Nov 2021 in face-to-face interviews.Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding vaccination during pregnancy; vaccination status RESULTS: No women were vaccinated except for small proportions in India (12.9%) and Guatemala (5.5%). Overall, nearly half the women believed the COVID-19 vaccine is very/somewhat effective and a similar proportion believed that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe for pregnant women. With availability of vaccines, about 56.7% said they would get the vaccine and a 34.8% would refuse. Of those who would not get vaccinated, safety, fear of side effects, and lack of trust predicted vaccine refusal. Those with lower educational status were less willing to be vaccinated. Family members and health professionals were the most trusted source of information for vaccination.This COVID-19 vaccine survey in 7 LMICs found that knowledge about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine was generally low but varied. Concerns about vaccine safety and effectiveness among pregnant women is an important target for educational efforts to increase vaccination rates.