Al-Aghbari, A.A.; Naanyu, V.; Luchters, S.; Irungu, E.; Baalawy, K.; Bärnighausen, T.; Mauti, J. Reducing Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake: Community Ideas from Urban and Rural Kenya. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2023, 20, 7093.
Al-Aghbari, A.A.; Naanyu, V.; Luchters, S.; Irungu, E.; Baalawy, K.; Bärnighausen, T.; Mauti, J. Reducing Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake: Community Ideas from Urban and Rural Kenya. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 7093.
Al-Aghbari, A.A.; Naanyu, V.; Luchters, S.; Irungu, E.; Baalawy, K.; Bärnighausen, T.; Mauti, J. Reducing Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake: Community Ideas from Urban and Rural Kenya. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2023, 20, 7093.
Al-Aghbari, A.A.; Naanyu, V.; Luchters, S.; Irungu, E.; Baalawy, K.; Bärnighausen, T.; Mauti, J. Reducing Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake: Community Ideas from Urban and Rural Kenya. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 7093.
Abstract
Ever since the tremendous success of the rapid vaccine development against COVID‑19, its availa-bility, distribution, and deployment have been a significant concern; however, evidence suggests that vaccine hesitancy has become a greater problem. Therefore, trust in vaccines is crucial and critically dependent on regimes' ability to communicate the benefits of immunization. This study investigated ideas on ways to reduce barriers to COVID-19 vaccination uptake. It explores methods to overcome COVID-19 vaccine barriers through qualitative research: interviews and group discussions involving healthcare providers, administration personnel, teachers, and individuals with chronic conditions across urban (Mombasa) and rural (Kilifi) Kenya. Audio-recorded discussions were transcribed and thematically analyzed across locations. Five themes emerged in our results regarding how to reduce barriers to the COVID vaccine in the context of Kenya, including awareness campaigns, engaging diverse stakeholders, using various communication techniques, capacity building to increase vac-cination centers and trained staff, and lastly, revising relevant government health policies and guidelines. These results indicate the importance of adopting multiple approaches, as no single strategy could boost vaccine acceptance. Moreover, this study provides recommendations for con-ceiving actionable interventions to potentially boost vaccine demand and maintain routine immun-ization in Kenya.
Keywords
COVID-19; Vaccine uptake; reduction of barriers to vaccination; health misinformation; vaccine hesitancy; Kenya
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Health Policy and Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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