Background:

The development of COVID-19 vaccinations has reignited optimism in many cultures devastated by the pandemic's tremendous loss of lives and livelihoods. Vaccination hesitancy (VH) is a critical and growing international problem in the global effort to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. To successfully handle VH concerns, it is necessary to understand the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours on COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to collect data on COVID-19 knowledge, behaviours, and attitudes as an illness, as well as COVID-19 vaccine.

Methods:

In October 2021, a cross-sectional research with 232 participants was undertaken. A standardized interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The majority of respondents in the present survey heard about COVID-19 between January and March 2020. Social media, news media, and news papers are the most effective sources of information on COVID-19, reaching 34.48% of the population. Basic COVID-19 knowledge was reported to be moderate. Nearly half of the respondents (48.3%) thought SARSCOV-2 was man-made, while 36.21% were unsure. Good preventive behaviours were indicated by 49.14% of subjects. Overall, we find that around 65% of people are reluctant to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Male gender, low education, and occupation (teachers, health care workers, and students) were shown to be more hesitant about vaccination. In this study, healthcare workers (HCWs) were averse to get COVID-19 vaccine. The reasons for vaccination hesitation were "unknown safety" of the vaccines (17.4%) and "unknown long term consequences" of the vaccines (18.97%). Almost a third (27.59%) of those interviewed said they had no intention of being vaccinated.

Conclusion:

We report moderate knowledge on COVID-19, as well as effective preventive practices, but negative attitudes regarding COVID-19 vaccination, resulting in low vaccination rates of 6.9%. Misinformation regarding COVID-19 appears to play a key role in vaccination reluctance.