This study aimed to determine the prevalence and investigate the constellations of psychological determinants of the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the Bangladeshi adult population utilizing the health belief model-HBM (perceived susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19, perceived benefits of and barriers to COVID-19 vaccination, and cues to action), the theory of planned behavior-TPB (attitude toward COVID-19 vaccine, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and anticipated regret), and the 5C psychological antecedents (confidence, constraints, complacency, calculation, and collective responsibility). We compared the predictability of these theoretical frameworks to see which framework explains the highest variance in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. This study adopted a cross-sectional research design. We collected data from a nationally representative sample of 1,497 respondents through both online and face-to-face interviews. We employed multiple linear regression analysis to assess the predictability of each model of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. We found a 41.1% prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among our study respondents. After controlling the effects of socio-economic, demographic, and other COVID-19 related covariates, we found that the TPB has the highest predictive power (adjusted R2 = 0.43), followed by the 5C psychological antecedents of vaccination (adjusted R2 = 0.32) and the HBM (adjusted R2 = 0.31) in terms of explaining total variance in the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the adults of Bangladesh. This study provides evidence that theoretical frameworks like the HBM, the TPB, and the 5C psychological antecedents can be used to explore the psychological determinants of vaccine hesitancy, where the TPB has the highest predictability. Our findings can be used to design targeted interventions to reduce vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccine uptake to prevent COVID-19.

Introduction Studies related to the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy are scanty in Bangladesh, despite the growing necessity of understanding the population behavior related to vaccination. Thus, the present study was conducted to assess the prevalence of the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its associated factors in Bangladesh to fill the knowledge gap. Methods and materials This study adopted a cross-sectional design to collect data from 1497 respondents using online (Google forms) and face-to-face interviews from eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh between 1–7 February 2021. We employed descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results The prevalence of vaccine hesitancy was 46.2%. The Muslims (aOR = 1.80, p ≤ 0.01) and the respondents living in the city corporation areas (aOR = 2.14, p ≤0.001) had more hesitancy. There was significant variation in vaccine hesitancy by administrative divisions (geographic regions). Compared to the Sylhet division, the participants from Khulna (aOR = 1.31, p ≤0.001) had higher hesitancy. The vaccine hesitancy tended to decrease with increasing knowledge about the vaccine (aOR = 0.88, p≤0.001) and the vaccination process (aOR = 0.91, p ≤ 0.01). On the other hand, hesitancy increased with the increased negative attitudes towards the vaccine (aOR = 1.17, p≤0.001) and conspiracy beliefs towards the COVID-19 vaccine (aOR = 1.04, p≤0.01). The perceived benefits of COVID-19 vaccination (aOR = 0.85, p≤0.001) were negatively associated with hesitancy, while perceived barriers (aOR = 1.16, p ≤0.001) were positively associated. The participants were more hesitant to accept the vaccine from a specific country of origin (India, USA, Europe). Conclusions Our findings warrant that a vigorous behavior change communication campaign should be designed and implemented to demystify negative public attitudes and conspiracy beliefs regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine in Bangladesh. The policymakers should also think about revisiting the policy of the online registration process to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, as online registration is a key structural barrier for many due to the persistent digital divide in the country. Finally, the government should consider the population’s preference regarding vaccines’ country of manufacture to reduce the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

All the storms and depressions that formed in the Bay of Bengal during 1974-99 have been analysed. The number of occurrences in July is not in harmony with that of other months of the monsoon. Regions stricken are taken into account on a monthly, seasonal and annual basis. The Indian coast faces almost an equal number of storms and depressions that are formed from June to November. The most vulnerable months for storms are May, October and November for Bangladesh; May for Myanmar; June, August and September for Kolkata-Vishakhapatnam in India and October and November for Vishakhapatnam-Tamilnadu in India. Most of the monsoon depressions cross the Kolkata-Vishakhapatnam coast of India. The frequency of formation has been observed to decrease during the period of analysis. It is also observed that the frequency distribution of the Bay of Bengal storms has two peaks: one in the month of May and the other in the month of November.

The state in Bangladesh has instituted a series of policies and practices during the COVID-19 pandemic that reflects structural stigma. Stigma is now considered a complex phenomenon rather than just one set of beliefs. Thus, the level and correlates of stigma toward individuals and households that have become positive with the Coronavirus are of critical interest and importance. This article describes the nature of the Bangladesh government's unusual labeling practices as a structural stigma and examines the stigma levels among Bangladeshi adults. A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,056 adult respondents. We used 10 Likert items (α = 0.630) to measure the level of stigmatized attitudes related to COVID-19. The data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, and correlation coefficients to identify the factors associated with the dependent variable at the bivariate level. The multiple linear regression model was also fitted. The findings of the study show that 90.8% of the respondents had at least one stigmatized attitude. The regression analysis result shows that marital status, educational attainment, place of residence, risk perception, and attitudes toward COVID-19 were the most significant factors of stigmatized attitudes among the population in Bangladesh. This study suggests that state-sponsored labeling of COVID-19 positive people should be stopped immediately, and the privacy and confidentiality of the COVID-19 positive people should be appropriately maintained. Health education programs should also be adopted for all age groups to decrease negative attitudes toward this disease by increasing their knowledge and awareness for preventing COVID-19.

The Government of Bangladesh has adopted several non-therapeutic measures to tackle the pandemic of SARS-CoV-2. However, the curve of COVID-19 positive cases has not significantly flattened yet, as the adoption of preventive measures by the general population is predominantly a behavioral phenomenon that is often influenced by people’s knowledge and attitudes. This study aimed to assess the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and preventive behavioral practices toward COVID-19 and their interrelationships among the population of Bangladesh aged 18 years and above. This study adopted a web-based cross-sectional survey design and collected data from 1056 respondents using the online platform Google Form. We employed the independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's product-moment correlation, and Spearman rank-order correlation to produce the bivariate level statistics. We also run multiple linear and logistic regression models to identify the factors affecting knowledge, attitude, and preventive behavioral practices toward COVID-19. The respondents had an average knowledge score of 17.29 (Standard Deviation (SD) = 3.30). The average score for attitude scale toward COVID-19 was 13.6 (SD=3.7). The respondents had excellent preventive behavioral practices toward COVID-19 (mean 7.7, SD=0.72). However, this study found that knowledge and attitudes did not matter for preventive behavioral practices toward COVID-19. Instead, education appeared as a sole predictor for preventive behavioral practices toward COVID-19; that means preventive behavioral practices toward COVID-19 was lower among the less educated respondents. This study suggests increasing education as a long-term strategy and taking immediate action to increase knowledge and decrease negative attitudes toward COVID-19 through targeted health education initiatives as a short-term strategy.