Cargando…

Community-Based Approaches to Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake and Demand: Lessons Learned from Four UNICEF-Supported Interventions

Vaccination is critical to minimize serious illness and death from COVID-19. Yet uptake of COVID-19 vaccines remains highly variable, particularly among marginalized communities. This article shares lessons learned from four UNICEF interventions that supported Governments to generate acceptance and...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Hopkins, Kathryn L., Underwood, Talya, Iddrisu, Iddi, Woldemeskel, Hanna, Bon, Helena Ballester, Brouwers, Symen, De Almeida, Sofia, Fol, Natalie, Malhotra, Alka, Prasad, Shalini, Bharadwaj, Sowmyaa, Bhatnagar, Aarunima, Knobler, Stacey, Lihemo, Gloria
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10384848/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37514996
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11071180
Descripción
Sumario:Vaccination is critical to minimize serious illness and death from COVID-19. Yet uptake of COVID-19 vaccines remains highly variable, particularly among marginalized communities. This article shares lessons learned from four UNICEF interventions that supported Governments to generate acceptance and demand for COVID-19 vaccines in Zambia, Iraq, Ghana, and India. In Zambia, community rapid assessment provided invaluable real-time insights around COVID-19 vaccination and allowed the identification of population segments that share beliefs and motivations regarding COVID-19 vaccination. Findings were subsequently used to develop recommendations tailored to the different personas. In Iraq, a new outreach approach (3iS: Intensification of Integrated Immunization) utilized direct community engagement to deliver health messages and encourage service uptake, resulting in over 4.4 million doses of COVID-19 and routine immunization vaccines delivered in just 8 months. In Ghana, a human-centered design initiative was applied to co-develop community-informed strategies to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates. In India, a risk communication and community engagement initiative reached half a million people over six months, translating into a 25% increase in vaccination rates. These shared approaches can be leveraged to improve COVID-19 vaccination coverage and close gaps in routine immunization across diverse and marginalized communities.