Reducing Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake: Community Ideas from Urban and Rural Kenya

Ahmed Asa’ad Al-Aghbari (), Violet Naanyu, Stanley Luchters, Eunice Irungu, Kawthar Baalawy, Till Bärnighausen and Joy Mauti
Additional contact information
Ahmed Asa’ad Al-Aghbari: Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Violet Naanyu: School of Arts and Social Sciences, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
Stanley Luchters: Centre for Sexual Health and HIV AIDS Research (CeSHHAR), Harare 0002, Zimbabwe
Eunice Irungu: The Aga Khan Hospital Mombasa, Mumbasa, Kenya
Kawthar Baalawy: The Aga Khan Hospital Mombasa, Mumbasa, Kenya
Till Bärnighausen: Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Joy Mauti: Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 23, 1-15

Abstract: Following the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines, addressing vaccine hesitancy and optimizing uptake have emerged as critical challenges, emphasizing the importance of reducing barriers toward COVID-19 vaccination. This study investigates ideas on ways to reduce barriers to COVID-19 vaccination uptake. It explores methods that can overcome COVID-19 vaccination 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 the reduction in barriers to COVID-19 vaccination in the context of Kenya, including awareness campaigns, engaging diverse stakeholders, using various communication techniques, capacity building to increase vaccination 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 can boost vaccine acceptance. Moreover, this study provides recommendations for conceiving actionable interventions to potentially boost vaccine demand and maintain routine immunization in Kenya.

Keywords: COVID-19; vaccine uptake; reduction in barriers to vaccination; health misinformation; vaccine hesitancy; Kenya (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/23/7093/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/23/7093/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:23:p:7093-:d:1285131

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().