Vaccine Acceptance in Africa during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This chapter provides a strategic overview of the impact of COVID-19 on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), exploring barriers and facilitators to vaccine uptake. An academic debate is presented for the need to apply socio-epidemiological concepts to COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in SSA, considering the complex social factors governing vaccine uptake in the region. The chapter provides an insight into the complex nature of vaccine acceptance and uptake, coupled with the unique challenges SSA has faced as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, and recognises the necessity for creative, multifaceted approaches to address this problem. The chapter discusses the unprecedented challenges that the pandemic presented, with specific reference to the fundamentally unique challenges it imposed on SSA. It explores the vaccination roll-out across the region and the core barriers to and facilitators of vaccine uptake. An overview of research evidence on SSA on vaccine hesitancy is also provided. The final parts of the chapter provide an examination of how social epidemiology can be used to explain and address COVID-19 vaccine uptake and an exploration of how potential future directions in vaccine acceptance and uptake across this distinct geographical region can be made beyond the context of COVID-19.