Addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: Lessons from the role of community participation in previous vaccination programs

The acceptance of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine has been described as a gateway to attaining herd immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The critical role of community participation (CP) has been successfully demonstrated in previous vaccination programs globally. This perspective therefore aimed to describe how CP could be used to promote COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. To promote COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, it is required that a mapping of community assets, resources, civil-based organizations, and stakeholders is done to gain insight into the community culture and value in relation to COVID-19 vaccine. This will help to address the misconceptions while prompting COVID-19 vaccination sensitization activities that are relevant to each community. It is required that policy makers understand that the adoption of a comprehensive grassroots approach lends a voice to the community and helps to utilize community-initiated and community-driven ideas on promoting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.

[1]  Laurin B. Weissinger,et al.  COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in low- and middle-income countries , 2021, Nature Medicine.

[2]  A. Afolabi,et al.  Knowledge of community members on COVID-19 in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria , 2021, The Pan African medical journal.

[3]  A. Hoffart,et al.  Risk, Trust, and Flawed Assumptions: Vaccine Hesitancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic , 2021, Frontiers in Public Health.

[4]  W. Rief.  Fear of Adverse Effects and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Recommendations of the Treatment Expectation Expert Group. , 2021, JAMA health forum.

[5]  D. Finnoff,et al.  Hesitancy Toward a COVID-19 Vaccine , 2021, EcoHealth.

[6]  A. Afolabi,et al.  Dealing with vaccine hesitancy in Africa: the prospective COVID-19 vaccine context , 2021, The Pan African medical journal.

[7]  M. Gaarder,et al.  PROTOCOL: Use of community participation interventions to improve child immunisation in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review and meta‐analysis , 2020, Campbell systematic reviews.

[8]  S. Quinn,et al.  The public’s role in COVID-19 vaccination: Human-centered recommendations to enhance pandemic vaccine awareness, access, and acceptance in the United States , 2020, Vaccine.

[9]  Abayomi J. Akande,et al.  Overcoming COVID-19 in West African countries: is herd immunity an option? , 2020, The Pan African medical journal.

[10]  T. Sentell,et al.  Considering Health Literacy, Health Decision Making, and Health Communication in the Social Networks of Vulnerable New Mothers in Hawai‘i: A Pilot Feasibility Study , 2020, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[11]  L Rampal,et al.  Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. , 2020, The Medical journal of Malaysia.

[12]  A. Abimiku,et al.  Community stakeholder engagement during a vaccine demonstration project in Nigeria: lessons on implementation of the good participatory practice guidelines , 2019, The Pan African medical journal.

[13]  T. Adoukonou,et al.  From Social Determinants of Health Actions to Fight against the Lassa Virus Hemorrhagic Fever Epidemic in Tchaourou Commune in Benin, 2018 , 2019, Open Journal of Epidemiology.

[14]  Nicole Deutsch,et al.  Legacy of Polio—Use of India’s Social Mobilization Network for Strengthening of the Universal Immunization Program in India , 2017, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[15]  J. Bedford,et al.  Community Engagement in Liberia: Routine Immunization Post-Ebola , 2017, Journal of health communication.

[16]  C. Wiysonge,et al.  Interventions for improving coverage of childhood immunisation in low- and middle-income countries , 2016, The Cochrane database of systematic reviews.

[17]  Babatunde Raphael Ojebuyi,et al.  Explaining the effectiveness of community-based crime prevention practices. A case study from Nigeria , 2016 .