Uptake of public health measures and vaccine acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic in rural Zambia

Abstract

Vaccines are effective tools to prevent COVID-19-related morbidity. However, coverage is low throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Uptake of public health measures, perceptions of COVID-19 illness and vaccines, and intention to vaccinate were evaluated in 2021–2022 in rural Zambia. Adherence to public health measures, perceptions of COVID-19 risk and severity, and vaccine acceptance increased significantly over time, particularly in December 2021, coinciding with the fourth pandemic wave and relaunch of the national vaccine campaign. Vaccine acceptance was associated with perceptions of vaccine safety and effectiveness, but not disease severity. These findings highlight the importance of strong pandemic response and public communication for increased uptake of mitigatory measures, including vaccine acceptance.

Covid-19 Vaccination Barrier Analysis in Five Selected Districts of Southern Province in Zambia

“…However, a multivariate logistic regression of factors associated with people getting vaccinated against COVID-19 indicated that number of people in the household, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and heard of COVID-19 were not associated with people getting vaccinated against COVID-19. These findings are similar to another study by Sutcliffe et al (2022), which found that COVID-19 vaccines hesitancy in Africa was attributed to lack of confidence or knowledge of the vaccines, religious beliefs, lack of perceived risks of COVID-19 and mistrust of public health institutions [5,14].…”

“…Scaling up and implementation of COVID-19 vaccination programs have received much attention in most low and middle-income countries like Zambia. The Republic of Zambia, through the Ministry of Health, officially launched its COVID-19 vaccination campaign on 14 April 2021, after receiving the first consignment of 228,000 doses of the vaccines from the COVAX facility, a global initiative representing a partnership among the World Health Organization, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, UNICEF and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, working on the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines [5]. Despite the huge efforts made towards achieving a successful COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Zambia, the country remained with the lowest vaccination rate among the eligible population with only 25,644 individuals fully vaccinated as of 9 October 2022, which translated into 5.4% of the total eligible population [9].…”

“…Zambia reported the first COVID-19 case in March 2020 and had recorded 325,857 cases with 4,006 deaths, as of June 2022 [5]. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cold, cough, back pain, breathing problems and pneumonia in severe cases [6].…”

Respiratory viruses in rural Zambia during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…In 2021, an increase in prevalence among outpatients mid-year coincided with a peak in cases nationally [11] and introduction of the Delta SARS-CoV-2 variant into the community [13] . During this time, visits to the outpatient department decreased, potentially due to concerns about traveling or attending healthcare facilities and public health activities (e.g., contact tracing) in the community [14] . The prevalence increased again at the end of 2021, coinciding with introduction of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant.…”