WHAT IS AT STAKE?
Health workers need to get vaccinated for COVID-19 to protect both themselves and others. In their role as frontline workers, they have higher exposure to the virus, and they have a powerful influence on public vaccine attitudes and behavior. Therefore, health workers are a priority group for COVID-19 vaccination, yet many still have not taken the vaccine, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In countries where overall vaccination rates are still quite low, health workers may also face more barriers to getting vaccinated. Public health programs thus need innovative approaches to support health workers’ acceptance and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Effective approaches that support health workers to take up the COVID-19 vaccine must be informed by a nuanced understanding of the factors which influence whether health workers trust, see benefits of, and can easily access the vaccine.
WHAT ARE THESE RESOURCES?
Understanding how various factors can influence how health workers in any given setting think about the vaccine, make decisions, and act upon them is important to applying the right solutions and approaches for the problem at hand. Drawing on global insights from programmers, researchers, and policymakers, a new synthesis brief (English | French) developed by Breakthrough ACTION illustrates the varied environmental influences on health workers’ vaccination decisions. It then provides a set of evidence-informed approaches and illustrative examples to support health worker uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. A companion piece (English | French) features more detailed design and implementation considerations for several co-designed, and user-tested solutions to support COVID-19 vaccine uptake by health workers in multiple countries. Users can adapt and apply these approaches across contexts and to other health behaviors.
WATCH THE WEBINAR
During the webinar (English | French), Breakthrough ACTION discussed behavioral insights related to COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among health workers and presented guidance on promising approaches to increase their uptake. Participants learned about the nuance a behavioral science lens can bring to this problem and how to consider approaches to increase vaccine uptake in their own settings. The presenters also introduced the two new resources.
