Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program, Kampala, Uganda.
United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kampala, Uganda.
BMC Public Health. 2023 May 26;23(1):969. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15903-5.
Widespread COVID-19 vaccine uptake can facilitate epidemic control. A February 2021 study in Uganda suggested that public vaccine uptake would follow uptake among leaders. In May 2021, Baylor Uganda led community dialogue meetings with district leaders from Western Uganda to promote vaccine uptake. We assessed the effect of these meetings on the leaders' COVID-19 risk perception, vaccine concerns, perception of vaccine benefits and access, and willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine.
All departmental district leaders in the 17 districts in Western Uganda, were invited to the meetings, which lasted approximately four hours. Printed reference materials about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines were provided to attendees at the start of the meetings. The same topics were discussed in all meetings. Before and after the meetings, leaders completed self-administered questionnaires with questions on a five-point Likert Scale about risk perception, vaccine concerns, perceived vaccine benefits, vaccine access, and willingness to receive the vaccine. We analyzed the findings using Wilcoxon's signed-rank test.
Among 268 attendees, 164 (61%) completed the pre- and post-meeting questionnaires, 56 (21%) declined to complete the questionnaires due to time constraints and 48 (18%) were already vaccinated. Among the 164, the median COVID-19 risk perception scores changed from 3 (neutral) pre-meeting to 5 (strong agreement with being at high risk) post-meeting (p < 0.001). Vaccine concern scores reduced, with medians changing from 4 (worried about vaccine side effects) pre-meeting to 2 (not worried) post-meeting (p < 0.001). Median scores regarding perceived COVID-19 vaccine benefits changed from 3 (neutral) pre-meeting to 5 (very beneficial) post-meeting (p < 0.001). The median scores for perceived vaccine access increased from 3 (neutral) pre-meeting to 5 (very accessible) post-meeting (p < 0.001). The median scores for willingness to receive the vaccine changed from 3 (neutral) pre-meeting to 5 (strong willingness) post-meeting (p < 0.001).
COVID-19 dialogue meetings led to district leaders' increased risk perception, reduced concerns, and improvement in perceived vaccine benefits, vaccine access, and willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. These could potentially influence public vaccine uptake if leaders are vaccinated publicly as a result. Broader use of such meetings with leaders could increase vaccine uptake among themselves and the community.
广泛接种新冠疫苗有助于控制疫情。2021 年 2 月在乌干达进行的一项研究表明，公众对疫苗的接种意愿将追随领导人的接种意愿。2021 年 5 月，Baylor Uganda 在乌干达西部与来自该地区的领导人举行社区对话会议，以促进疫苗接种。我们评估了这些会议对领导人的新冠风险认知、疫苗担忧、对疫苗益处和可及性的看法，以及接种疫苗的意愿的影响。
邀请乌干达西部 17 个区的所有部门区领导人参加会议，会议持续约四个小时。会议开始时向与会者提供有关新冠和新冠疫苗的印刷参考资料。所有会议都讨论了相同的主题。在会议前后，领导人完成了自我管理的问卷，问卷中有关于风险认知、疫苗顾虑、疫苗益处感知、疫苗可及性和接种疫苗意愿的五点李克特量表问题。我们使用 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验分析结果。
在 268 名与会者中，164 名（61%）完成了会前和会后的问卷，56 名（21%）因时间限制而拒绝完成问卷，48 名（18%）已经接种了疫苗。在 164 名参与者中，新冠风险认知评分中位数从会前的 3 分（中立）变为会后的 5 分（强烈同意处于高风险）（p<0.001）。疫苗担忧评分降低，中位数从会前的 4 分（担心疫苗副作用）变为会后的 2 分（不担心）（p<0.001）。对新冠疫苗益处的感知评分中位数从会前的 3 分（中立）变为会后的 5 分（非常有益）（p<0.001）。疫苗可及性评分中位数从会前的 3 分（中立）变为会后的 5 分（非常容易获得）（p<0.001）。接种疫苗的意愿评分中位数从会前的 3 分（中立）变为会后的 5 分（非常愿意）（p<0.001）。
新冠对话会议导致区领导人对风险的认知增加、减少了担忧，并提高了对疫苗益处、疫苗可及性和接种疫苗的意愿的认知。如果因此领导人公开接种疫苗，这可能会潜在地影响公众的疫苗接种意愿。更广泛地使用这种与领导人的会议可以提高他们自己和社区的疫苗接种率。
