Leaving No One Behind: Interventions and Outcomes of the COVID-19 Vaccine Maximising Uptake Programme

Abstract

The devastating impact of COVID-19 on individuals and communities has accelerated the development of vaccines and the deployment of ambitious vaccination programmes to reduce the risks of infection, infection transmission and symptom severity. However, many people delay or refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19, for many complex reasons. Vaccination programmes that are tailored to address individual and communities’ COVID-19 concerns can improve vaccine uptake rates and help achieve the required herd-immunity threshold. The Maximising Uptake Programme has led to the vaccination of 7979 people from February–August 2021 in the South West of England, UK, who are at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and/or may not access the COVID-19 vaccines through mass vaccination centres and general practices. These include: people experiencing homelessness; non-English-speaking people; people from minority ethnic groups; refugees and asylum seekers; Gypsy, Roma, Travelers and boat people; and those who are less able to access vaccination centres, such as people with learning difficulties, serious mental illness, drug and alcohol dependence, people with physical and sensory impairment, and people with dementia. Outreach work coupled with a targeted communication and engagement campaign, co-designed with community leaders and influencers, have led to significant engagement and COVID-19 vaccine uptake among the target populations.

Co‐designing a theory‐informed, multicomponent intervention to increase vaccine uptake with Congolese migrants: A qualitative, community‐based participatory research study (LISOLO MALAMU)

“…Previous literature highlights gaps in understanding around how to develop tailored and targeted health interventions involving migrants, beyond engaging with community‐based organisations and using culturally appropriate messaging 49 . There are also limited examples of participatory, co‐designed vaccination interventions involving migrant populations 50–55 . Our study addresses this gap and offers a valuable example of a community‐engaged approach to co‐designing a vaccination intervention for an underserved migrant community.…”

An exploration of COVID-19 vaccination models for newcomer refugees and immigrants in Calgary, Canada

“…Several contextualized models in the health literature have also enhanced vaccine uptake among similar underserved populations. Such vaccination models employed multipronged strategies similar to those used in Calgary, including intersectoral collaboration, translated communication through the right channels, building trust, and performing outreach [ 26 , 27 , 29 , 36 ]. Only one model in the literature considered the integration of community partner input in policy, planning and decision making, as was found in Calgary area newcomer refugee and immigrant vaccination models [ 37 ].…”

“…Since 2003, various vaccination models for newcomer refugee and immigrant populations have been reported in the health literature, primarily from the United States ( n = 17) (Aghajafari, Guzek, Kamal, et al: A scoping review of COVID-19 vaccination models for refugees, unpublished) with only two studies conducted in Canada [ 22 , 23 ]. Vaccination models range in intervention scope and components – including wide-scale information campaigns [ 24 , 25 ], mobile outreach programs [ 21 , 22 , 26 , 27 ], and community vaccination sites [ 28 , 29 ]. Most vaccination models incorporate multiple elements including vaccine promotion, coordination, and vaccine delivery, and some incorporate language translation (Aghajafari, et al: A scoping review of COVID-19 vaccination models for refugees, unpublished).…”

Exploring the Perceptions and Experiences of Mobile Teams on COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake at the Community Level: Evidence from Benue and Niger States

“…Our study ndings also revealed that mobile health workers hold the perception that their engagement as extra hands to support xed health workers (i.e., health workers domiciled in the facilities), signi cantly in uenced the optimization of COVID-19 vaccination in Benue and Niger states because they were actively engaged in reaching the nooks and crannies of their local government areas to address misconceptions about COVID-19 and educate community residents on the bene ts of taking COVID-19 vaccines whilst they are also getting people vaccinated. This claim alludes to the outcomes of "The Maximizing Uptake Programme" (Berrou et al, 2022) in the Southwest of England, where outreach service was used to vaccinate underserved populations such as homeless people, refugees, and asylum seekers who are highly susceptible to COVID-19 and/or have limited access to vaccination centers. The perception held by the teams may be based on the possibility of observing a high level of hesitancy among community residents, particularly residents domiciled in underserved communities of the various…”