Executive Education: Effective Ways to Increase Vaccination Rates

For leaders, decision-makers, strategists and implementers of vaccination campaigns in Africa and the developing world.

In the face of the Delta and Delta Plus variants, the lack of available COVID-19 vaccines in low- and middle- income countries pose a monumental problem. Less than 5% of Africans have received one or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, a percentage that lags a long way behind the world (32.9%) and far behind the United States (60.4%). As COVID-19 vaccine supply issues are slowly addressed, it is important to take steps to bolster public trust in vaccinations. In an IPSOS study 43% of Africans surveyed said they would definitely get vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine. In the same study, the  primary reason for declining vaccines when they do become available was a lack of information about vaccines. In countries with vaccine surplus, many governments are moving forward with lotteries to attempt to boost vaccine uptake. Greatly concerning is that amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration of standard childhood vaccines has declined. It is essential to address the reasons behind declining vaccination rates to find interventions to improve vaccine uptake for all diseases.

This executive education symposium is supported by the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia, the Program in Vaccine Education at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand.