Strategies to Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Vaccination, albeit a necessity in the prevention of infectious diseases, requires appropriate strategies for addressing vaccine hesitancy at an individual and community level. However, there remains a glaring scarcity of available literature in that regard. Therefore, this review aims to scrutinize globally tested interventions to increase the vaccination uptake by addressing vaccine hesitancy at various stages of these interventions across the globe and help policy makers in implementing appropriate strategies to address the issue.Methods: A systematic review of descriptive and analytic studies was conducted using specific key word searches to identify literature containing information about interventions directed at vaccine hesitancy. The search was done using PubMed, Global Health, and Science Direct databases. Data extraction was based on study characteristics such as author details; study design; and type, duration, and outcome of an intervention.Results: A total of 105 studies were identified of which 33 studies were included in the final review. Community-based interventions, monetary incentives, and technology-based health literacy demonstrated significant improvement in the utilization of immunization services. On the other hand, media-based intervention studies did not bring about a desired change in overcoming vaccine hesitancy.Conclusion: This study indicates that the strategies should be based on the need and reasons for vaccine hesitancy for the targeted population. A multidimensional approach involving community members, families, and individuals is required to address this challenging issue.

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“…Most of the research on public policies aiming to address vaccine hesitancy has focused on targeted interventions [2]. Recently in Europe, public actions fuelled hesitancy when 18 European governments suspended Vaxvevria following news reports of rare blood clots.…”

“…Most papers assessing the effectiveness of public interventions against vaccine hesitancy are generally focused on policies which target specific populations and involve interpersonal interactions. [2] provide a meta analysis of 33 studies showing that community-based interventions (generally targeting parents or caregivers of children via home visits or information campaigns through community health workers, as well as reminder interventions), monetary incentives aimed at alleviating financial constraints [3], and technology-based health literacy have significant effects. However, less is known about the effectiveness of large scale official communications about vaccine safety.…”

Can a Supranational Medicines Agency Restore Trust after Vaccine Suspensions? The Case of Vaxzevria

“…Most of the research on public policies aiming to address vaccine hesitancy has focused on targeted interventions (community-based interpersonal interactions and incentives (Singh et al, 2020)). Recently in Europe, public actions fuelled hesitancy when 18 European governments suspended Vaxvevria without coordination following news reports of rare blood clots.…”

“…A large number of studies assess the effectiveness of public actions aimed at stimulating vaccine uptake. Singh et al (2020) provide a meta analysis of 33 studies of the impact of diverse public actions to encourage vaccine acceptance. They conclude that community-based interventions (generally targeting parents or caregivers of children via home visits or information campaigns through community health workers, as well as reminder interventions), monetary incentives aimed at alleviating financial constraints (Banerjee et al, 2010), and technology-based health literacy have significant effects.…”