Vaccine Hesitancy: Guidance and Interventions

Abstract

Research shows that vaccine hesitancy (i.e. ‘the delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination services’ (WHO SAGE, 2014a) is rising, resulting in alarming figures on disease outbreaks reported globally. Despite availability of vaccines, the number of countries reporting hesitancy has steadily increased since 2014 (Lane et al., 2018). Therefore, there is a need to understand what governments and partners can do to tackle this problem. The evidence for this rapid review is gender blind and taken from grey literature, including systematic reviews, interviews, research reports, and peer-reviewed academic papers from vaccine-related projects (e.g. Vaccine Confidence Project). Strategies aimed at specific populations in grey literature differed from those in peer reviewed literature (WHO SAGE, 2014a). This review does not focus on anti-vaccination (anti-vaxx/anti-vac) sentiments or movements. Drivers of vaccine hesitancy are also not explored in this review. K4D helpdesk reports provide summaries of current research, evidence and lessons learned. This report was commissioned by the UK Department for International Development