COVID-19 vaccination refusal trends in Kenya over 2021

Vaccinating without complete willingness against COVID‐19: Personal and social aspects of Israeli nursing students and faculty members

“…Therefore, the reported low vaccination rates were perceived as a major threat to the general effort to combat the pandemic and a risk to public health (WHO, 2019). Vaccine refusal rates among the eligible adult population were relatively high all over the world (WHO, 2023) but varied greatly among different countries and regions (Frankenthal et al, 2022;Gori et al, 2023;Khubchandani et al, 2022;Rego et al, 2023;Song & Lee, 2023;Takoudjou Dzomo et al, 2023). For example, an Israeli study, which included nearly 3000 households (1827 Jews and 1171 Arabs) revealed that 16.3% of the sample population hesitated/refused to get vaccinated despite the availability of the vaccine to them (Frankenthal et al, 2022).…”

“…A large study from South Korea demonstrated that 3.9% of the eligible adult population refused to get the vaccine mainly due to concerns regarding its safety (Song & Lee, 2023). A study from Kenya reported that, during the year 2021, vaccine refusal was very high-24%-at the beginning of the year and remained relatively high-9%-by the end of the year, for reasons such as education above a primary level and mistrust in the government (Rego et al, 2023).…”

“…The WHO, local health authorities, and the vast majority of professional healthcare workers worldwide strongly advocated and promoted vaccination as the most useful method to combat the pandemic (Fauci et al, 2020; WHO, 2020; Yamey et al, 2020). Despite the apparent safety and efficacy of the vaccine (Bar‐On et al, 2021; Dagan et al, 2021), a high percentage of people from all over the world did not get vaccinated until the present day, for various reasons (Frankenthal et al, 2022; Gori et al, 2023; Rego et al, 2023; Song & Lee, 2023; Takoudjou Dzomo et al, 2023; WHO, 2023). Many developed countries reported relatively low vaccination rates in their populations (WHO, 2023) despite offering free vaccines to all eligible subjects (there were almost no sub‐groups of the adult population that were not allowed to get vaccinated for health reasons) (Barda et al, 2021; Hodgson et al, 2021; Polack et al, 2020; Zhu et al, 2020), and in spite of repetitive outbreaks of the pandemic.…”

“…Many reasons have been proposed to explain people's hesitation and/or refusal to get vaccinated (Jennings et al, 2021; Khubchandani et al, 2022; Leng et al, 2021; Schwarzinger et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021). Among the most reported reasons for COVID‐19 vaccine hesitation and refusal are: concerns regarding the safety of the vaccine (Khubchandani et al, 2022; Leng et al, 2021; Rego et al, 2023); skepticism regarding the efficacy of the vaccine (Leng et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021); problems with the availability and accessibility of the vaccine to specific sub‐groups of the population (Frankenthal et al, 2022; Gori et al, 2023; Leng et al, 2021); concerns regarding the duration of protection provided by the vaccine and the possible need to get multiple doses of the vaccine (Khubchandani et al, 2022; Wong et al, 2021); general negative opinions regarding the use of vaccines (not particularly the anti‐COVID‐19 vaccine) (Jennings et al, 2021; Leng et al, 2021; Schwarzinger et al, 2021); exposure to fake‐news and unestablished data regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccine (Jennings et al, 2021; Khubchandani et al, 2022; Leng et al, 2021); young age and/or normal health status (Frankenthal et al, 2022; Gori et al, 2023; Leng et al, 2021; Schwarzinger et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021); female gender (not consistent in all studies) (Gori et al, 2023; Schwarzinger et al, 2021); education level (not consistent in all studies) (Gori et al, 2023; Leng et al, 2021; Rego et al, 2023; Schwarzinger et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021); employment status—nonworking people (Leng et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021); identity of the company and/or country which manufactured the vaccine; vaccine production technology (e.g., mRNA vaccine, adenovirus based vaccine, inactivated vaccine, etc.) (Khubchandani et al, 2022; Leng et al, 2021; Schwarzinger et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021); political opinion and perception of governmental handling of the pandemic (Frankenthal et al, 2022; Jennings et al, 2021…”

“…Among the most reported reasons for COVID‐19 vaccine hesitation and refusal are: concerns regarding the safety of the vaccine (Khubchandani et al, 2022; Leng et al, 2021; Rego et al, 2023); skepticism regarding the efficacy of the vaccine (Leng et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021); problems with the availability and accessibility of the vaccine to specific sub‐groups of the population (Frankenthal et al, 2022; Gori et al, 2023; Leng et al, 2021); concerns regarding the duration of protection provided by the vaccine and the possible need to get multiple doses of the vaccine (Khubchandani et al, 2022; Wong et al, 2021); general negative opinions regarding the use of vaccines (not particularly the anti‐COVID‐19 vaccine) (Jennings et al, 2021; Leng et al, 2021; Schwarzinger et al, 2021); exposure to fake‐news and unestablished data regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccine (Jennings et al, 2021; Khubchandani et al, 2022; Leng et al, 2021); young age and/or normal health status (Frankenthal et al, 2022; Gori et al, 2023; Leng et al, 2021; Schwarzinger et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021); female gender (not consistent in all studies) (Gori et al, 2023; Schwarzinger et al, 2021); education level (not consistent in all studies) (Gori et al, 2023; Leng et al, 2021; Rego et al, 2023; Schwarzinger et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021); employment status—nonworking people (Leng et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021); identity of the company and/or country which manufactured the vaccine; vaccine production technology (e.g., mRNA vaccine, adenovirus based vaccine, inactivated vaccine, etc.) (Khubchandani et al, 2022; Leng et al, 2021; Schwarzinger et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021); political opinion and perception of governmental handling of the pandemic (Frankenthal et al, 2022; Jennings et al, 2021; Khubchandani et al, 2022; Leng et al, 2021; Rego et al, 2023; Schwarzinger et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2021). From a public‐health point‐of‐view, it is not productive to dismiss the opinions of “vaccine‐refu...…”