Hesitancy can become a tempting explanation for low vaccine coverage when governments seek to deflect attention from health system problems.
For news editors, a story about a person rejecting vaccination because of their beliefs is probably more interesting than reporting a more prosaic lack of transport or inconvenient clinic hours. However, we should not paint out of the vaccination picture individuals like the two women I spoke with this week, both affected by disability and both uniquely struggling to access the Covid-19 vaccine they wanted.
Being open and curious about why vaccination take-up is low is good for public health. It starts with asking the affected community. In Romania for instance, a large measles outbreak in 2016 was thought to be caused by active refusal of vaccination. Then a survey of 520 caregivers of children with measles asked them directly. It turns out the main barriers to these children being vaccinated were long waiting times, vaccines running out and
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Publication Date February 3, 2021 Understanding how people think, feel and act in relation to vaccination is vital to informing the development of strategies to generate acceptance and uptake for the vaccines. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), generating and using data on behavioural and social drivers (BeSD) with tools such as surveys and interview guides can help address the drivers and barriers to COVID-19 vaccines uptake. Developed by a multi-disciplinary group of global experts and partners, this guidebook is designed to enable programmes to design, target, and evaluate data-informed, tailored communication interventions whose purpose is to generate acceptance and uptake for the vaccines.