3 Factors Influencing Vaccine Hesitancy in Kenya
In the months prior to #covid19pandemic, the World Health Organization declared vaccine hesitancy to be one of 10 threats to global health in 2019. During the past two-and-a-half years of pandemic fighting, vaccine hesitancy has proved a formidable foe. While lower than reported in other countries, vaccine hesitancy in Kenya remains a dynamic problem. A research team from the Aga Khan University, led by Dr Jasmit Shah (Sumaria), Ph.D. , set out to study why and compared the results across six different healthcare facilities in Kenya.
They discovered three key factors influencing vaccine hesitancy in sub-Saharan Africa:??
The rampant spread of disinformation via social media?
Information on social media outlets is not scientifically filtered and has the potential to misguide. Previous studies point to disinformation about the vaccine significantly contributing to vaccine hesitancy and the lack of uptake. Conspiracy theories abound, including the aim of vaccines to disable local populations so the “West” can control resources in Africa. In fact, close to half of Kenyans surveyed believe that people in Africa are being used as test subjects for vaccine trials. Misinformation is a major theme, often stemming from social media, including misinformation on the origin of the virus, infertility, and efficacy of the vaccine.?
Inequity in supply and distribution of vaccines to LMICs
By April 2021, just 0.2% of vaccines had been delivered to low and middle-income countries. As reported in Science, the Director-general of the WHO called such inequity "vaccine apartheid" and a "catastrophic moral failure".?The AKU researcher team believe that inequality of healthcare resources, especially during a pandemic, adds to mistrust in healthcare systems and could promote vaccine hesitancy among people in LMICs.
领英推荐
By April 2021, just 0.2% of vaccines had been delivered to low & middle-income countries
Lack of trust in the healthcare system
One-third of those studied believe that vaccines developed in the West are of better quality, reflecting a mistrust in the local healthcare systems and misinformation about the research and safety of vaccines explicitly used in Africa.?
Dr Shah and the AKU research team hope that their study will help inform vaccination promotion programs in Kenya and similar countries, as the COVID-19 vaccine supply increases.
Source