ArticleCommunications medicine2023
Assessing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and barriers to uptake in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Article in Communications medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Ethiopia: a scoping review for equitable vaccine access.Frontiers in health services · 2025Pooled it
- Reasons for hesitancy and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among the Congolese population: a scoping review.Frontiers in health services · 2025Pooled it
- Observational
- The Role of Medical Mistrust in Vaccination Decisions in Rural, Indigenous Namibian Communities.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Geospatial analysis of COVID-19 vaccine access in Kenya: the interplay of travel time, perceived availability, and vaccine uptake.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Qualitative exploration of factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant women in Kenya.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Understanding vaccine recommendation behaviours among healthcare workers in Senegal: A cross-sectional analysis.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2025Article
- Where is the hard-to-reach population? Spatial analysis from a cross-sectional study on the access to bed net and malaria vaccine in the Lake Victoria Region, Kenya.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- Barriers and enhancers to COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers in a metropolitan city in Nigeria.Journal of public health in Africa · 2025Article
- Mapping Community Vulnerability to reduced Vaccine Impact in Uganda and Kenya: A spatial Data-driven Approach.NIHR open research · 2025Article
- Mpox after COVID-19 in Africa: Different epidemic, similar challenges.Journal of public health in Africa · 2025Article
- Factors affecting equitable access and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in Ghana: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake and hesitancy among women of reproductive age in Mozambique.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Factors Influencing Behaviors to Reduce the Spread of COVID-19 Among Indigenous Families in the Southwest, United States.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Updated Surveillance Metrics and History of the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020-2023) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Longitudinal Trend Analysis.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
- Lessons learned from COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among pregnant and lactating women from two districts in Kenya to inform demand generation efforts for future maternal RSV vaccines.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Upstream factors impacting COVID-19 vaccination rates across Africa: A systematic review protocol.PloS one · 2024Article
- Rotavirus in Water Environments: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Environmental health insights · 2024Review
- Sex and COVID-19 vaccination uptake and intention in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda.Frontiers in global women's health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite improved availability of COVID-19 vaccines in Sub-Saharan Africa, vaccination campaigns in the region have struggled to pick up pace and trail the rest of the world. Yet, a successful vaccination campaign in Sub-Saharan Africa will be critical to containing COVID-19 globally.
methodsHere, we present new descriptive evidence on vaccine hesitancy, uptake, last-mile delivery barriers, and potential strategies to reach those who remain unvaccinated. Our data comes from national high frequency phone surveys in six countries in East and West Africa with a total population of 415 million people. Samples were drawn from nationally representative samples of households interviewed in recent in-person surveys. Our estimates are based on a survey module harmonized across countries and are re-weighted to mitigate potential sample selection biases.
resultsWe show that vaccine acceptance remains generally high among respondents in Sub-Saharan Africa (between 95.1% and 63.3%) even though hesitancy is non-negligible among those pending vaccination. Many who are willing to get vaccinated are deterred by a lack of easy access to vaccines at the local level. Furthermore, social ties and perceptions as well as intra-household power relations matter for vaccine take-up. Among the unvaccinated population, radio broadcasts have widespread reach and medical professionals are highly trusted.
conclusionsOur findings highlight that creating a positive social norm around COVID-19 vaccination, messaging that leverages trusted and accessible information sources and channels, and more easily accessible vaccination sites at the community level are promising policy options to boost vaccination campaigns in the region and end the pandemic everywhere.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.