Knowledge and Perceptions towards New SARSCoV- 2 Variants among General Population of India
Abstract
Introduction: In late 2020, the advent of COVID-19 variants which presented an increased level of risk to global or worldwide public health were categorised as Variants of Concern (VOCs) and Variants of Interest (VOIs). People have a varied understanding of these emerging variants resulting in the adoption of preventive and control measures.
Objective: To find out the knowledge and perceptions towards Omicron in the general population.
Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted via an online survey on 702 subjects above 15 years of age.
Results: 94.3% of the respondents had heard about the different variants of coronavirus affecting people during the pandemic. Out of those, majority had heard about the Omicron variant (95.9%) followed by the delta variant (84.3%). The level of knowledge was found to be significantly associated with education, occupation, history of COVID-19 infection of self or in the family, history of deaths in the family due to COVID-19 etc. 79.4% of the study respondents considered the new variants to be severe.
Conclusion: Perception of severity was associated with education, history of COVID-19 infection in the family or hospitalisation of family member(s) due to COVID-19.
How to cite this article:
Panda M, Priyanka, Kishore J. Knowledge and Perceptions towards New SARS-CoV-2 Variants among General Population of India. Special Issue - COVID-19 & Other Communicable Disease. 2022;134-142.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/0019.5138.202222
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