Vaccine anxieties, vaccine preparedness: Perspectives from Africa in a Covid-19 era

Leach, Melissa; MacGregor, Hayley; Akello, Grace; Babawo, Lawrence Sao; Baluku, Moses; Desclaux, Alice; Grant, Catherine; Kamara, Foday; Nyakoi, Marion Baby-May; Parker, Melissa; Richards, Paul; Mokuwa, Esther Yei; Okello, Bob; Sams, Kelley; Sow, Khoudia

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114826

Cited by 55 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Current vaccine policies risk furthering disunity in global health governance. Despite the WHO stating in early 2022 that boosters would prolong the pandemic by contributing to vaccine hoarding and low supply,97 universities (including some global health departments) in wealthy countries have mandated boosters for low-risk healthy students and faculty,59 when vaccination rates remained low in many low/middle-income countries (LMICs) 98. Efforts to pressure pharmaceutical companies (who developed vaccines with the support of publicly funded research money) to remove patent protections have proven unsuccessful 99 100.…”

Section: The Political and Legal Effects Of Vaccine Mandates Passport...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine policy: why mandates, passports and restrictions may cause more harm than good

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vaccination policies have shifted dramatically during COVID-19 with the rapid emergence of population-wide vaccine mandates, domestic vaccine passports and differential restrictions based on vaccination status. While these policies have prompted ethical, scientific, practical, legal and political debate, there has been limited evaluation of their potential unintended consequences. Here, we outline a comprehensive set of hypotheses for why these policies may ultimately be counterproductive and harmful. Our framework considers four domains: (1) behavioural psychology, (2) politics and law, (3) socioeconomics, and (4) the integrity of science and public health. While current vaccines appear to have had a significant impact on decreasing COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality burdens, we argue that current mandatory vaccine policies are scientifically questionable and are likely to cause more societal harm than good. Restricting people’s access to work, education, public transport and social life based on COVID-19 vaccination status impinges on human rights, promotes stigma and social polarisation, and adversely affects health and well-being. Current policies may lead to a widening of health and economic inequalities, detrimental long-term impacts on trust in government and scientific institutions, and reduce the uptake of future public health measures, including COVID-19 vaccines as well as routine immunisations. Mandating vaccination is one of the most powerful interventions in public health and should be used sparingly and carefully to uphold ethical norms and trust in institutions. We argue that current COVID-19 vaccine policies should be re-evaluated in light of the negative consequences that we outline. Leveraging empowering strategies based on trust and public consultation, and improving healthcare services and infrastructure, represent a more sustainable approach to optimising COVID-19 vaccination programmes and, more broadly, the health and well-being of the public.

show abstract

Section: The Political and Legal Effects Of Vaccine Mandates Passport...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine policy: why mandates, passports and restrictions may cause more harm than good

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Accordingly, the WHO approved COVID-19 vaccines on 31 December 2020. The strategy of vaccinating the world—inoculating 70% of all the world population by mid-2022—was adopted as a promising method to limit the pandemic [ 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lay people, even those who view vaccination as protective against COVID-19, feel anxious about the possibilities and risks of taking the vaccine [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Unfortunately, a significant number of people around the world still refuse to receive the vaccine [ 5 , 12 ]. Vaccination hesitancy is evoked by uncertainty and perceptual disintegration as a result of misinformation and conspiracy beliefs [ 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Misinformation on how COVID-19 vaccines are developed and tested, as well as on their safety and efficacy, is widely communicated through social media [ 9 , 14 ]. The influence of the globalized antivax movement on increased vaccine hesitancy is largely expressed through social media [ 5 , 9 ]. As a result of the widely communicated erroneous information about COVID-19 (e.g., it is a man-made disease and vaccines are intended to cause death in certain groups), vaccine hesitancy represents a growing obstacle, which may hinder the containment of the pandemic [ 3 , 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They employ conspiracy beliefs as a method of coping with uncertainty surrounding the pandemic [ 3 , 17 ]. Therefore, vaccine hesitancy is largely attributed to negative emotions, which are accelerated by antivax rumors about COVID-19 vaccines [ 5 , 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Emotional Reaction to the First Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine: Postvaccination Decline in Anxiety and Stress among Anxious Individuals and Increase among Individuals with Normal Prevaccination Anxiety Levels

Al‐Amer

Malak

Burqan

et al. 2022

JPM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although vaccination has been adopted by the WHO to limit worldwide transmission of COVID-19, people’s worries about COVID-19 vaccines may suppress their desire for vaccination despite vaccine availability. This study aimed to investigate anxiety and stress symptoms among 250 Jordanians (mean age = 43.18 ± 6.34 years, 72% females) who received their first vaccine dose. The respondents completed the anxiety and stress subscales of the Depression Anxiety and Stress scale 21 (DASS-21) before and after vaccination. The respondents expressed more moderate–severe levels of stress before than after vaccination (20.8% and 13.2%, respectively). Meanwhile, 37.2% and 45.2% of the respondents expressed moderate–severe anxiety before and after vaccination, respectively. Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that the drop in the level of stress from before- (median (IQR) = 5 (1–8)) to after vaccination (median (IQR) = 3 (1–7)) was statistically significant (z = −3.81, p = 0.001, r = 0.17) while the increase in anxiety was not. Anxiety significantly dropped postvaccination among individuals experiencing mild to severe anxiety before vaccination. Similarly, stress and anxiety significantly increased among individuals expressing normal anxiety before vaccination (z = −3.57 and −8.24, p values = 0.001, r = 0.16 and 0.37, respectively). Age positively correlated with postvaccination anxiety among respondents with mild prevaccination anxiety, and it negatively correlated with the prevaccination level of stress in the normal-anxiety group. Gender, marital status, respondents’ level of education, and history of COVID-19 infection had no significant correlation with anxiety or stress at either point of measurement. Overcoming their hesitancy to receive COVID-19 vaccines, individuals with normal levels of anxiety experienced a rise in their distress symptoms following immunization. On the contrary, vaccination seemed to desensitize anxious individuals. Policymakers need to formulate a population-specific plan to increase vaccine preparedness and promote psychological well-being over all during the pandemic.

show abstract

Social Science Priorities and Response to COVID-19

Schmidt‐Sane

Hrynick

Ripoll

2023

Handbook of Social Sciences and Global Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vaccine anxieties, vaccine preparedness: Perspectives from Africa in a Covid-19 era

Cited by 55 publications

References 18 publications

The unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine policy: why mandates, passports and restrictions may cause more harm than good

The unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine policy: why mandates, passports and restrictions may cause more harm than good

Emotional Reaction to the First Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine: Postvaccination Decline in Anxiety and Stress among Anxious Individuals and Increase among Individuals with Normal Prevaccination Anxiety Levels

Social Science Priorities and Response to COVID-19

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About