COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in low- and middle-income countries and recommendations to increase uptake

• This study, published in Nature Medicine, analyses willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 from surveys covering 10 low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Africa, and South America.
• Willingness to vaccinate is considerably higher in these low- and middle-income countries (80% of respondents) than in the United States (65%) and Russia (30%).
• The results suggest prioritising vaccine distribution to low- and middle-income countries should yield high returns in promoting global immunisation coverage, and that vaccination campaigns in these countries should focus on translating acceptance into uptake.
• Personal protection against COVID-19 is the main reason given for vaccine acceptance in these low- and middle-income countries (91% of respondents). Concerns about side effects (44%) is the most common reason given for vaccine hesitancy.
• Health workers are considered the most trusted sources of information about COVID-19 vaccines (48% of respondents).
• This brief recommends using health workers to deliver vaccine information, investing in ‘last-mile’ nudges, leveraging pro-vaccine attitudes, and focusing messaging on vaccine effectiveness to increase vaccine uptake in low- and middle-income countries.

The journal article in Nature Medicine can be accessed here.