Community-Based Approaches to Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake & Demand: Lessons Learned from Four UNICEF-Supported Interventions
The Sabin Vaccine Institute contributed to an article entitled, "Community-Based Approaches to Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake and Demand: Lessons Learned from Four UNICEF-Supported Interventions," in the special issue of peer-reviewed, open access journal Vaccines, called Challenges and Future Trends of COVID-19 Vaccination.
Uptake of COVID-19 remains variable in many countries, especially among marginalized communities. This article examines lessons learned from UNICEF interventions that supported governments in their efforts to increase acceptance and demand of COVID-19 vaccination in Zambia, Iraq, Ghana, and India.
Some key takeaways:
- In Zambia, community rapid assessment provided inmportant insights around COVID-19 vaccination and allowed the identification of population segments that shared beliefs and motivations regarding COVID-19 vaccination. Findings were subsequently used to develop recommendations tailored to 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
What strategies have been most effective in increasing COVID-19 vaccination demand, acceptance, and uptake in your context? Can these strategies be applied to other vaccines - why or why not? Which country's strategy struck you as the most innovative and why?
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