People's reluctance to vaccinate against Vaccine-19 in Burkina Faso: an effect of the low level of involvement of community-based organisations?

Abstract

Context: One year after the outbreak of covid-19, various anti-covid-19 vaccines are validated by the WHO to counteract this epidemic. However, their acceptability remains dependent on a global context of widespread circulation of fake news. This study analyzes, among other things, the effects of low community participation in the implementation of this vaccination in Burkina Faso.
Method: Between February and July 2021, the qualitative study conducted 4 focus groups with association leaders in Ouagadougou (2) and Bobo-Dioulasso (2), as well as in-depth individual interviews (EIA). Thus, 33 in-depth individual interviews (EIA) were conducted with 14 association leaders (8 in Ouagadougou and 6 in Bobo-Dioulasso), 7 traditional and religious leaders, 8 health care staff, and 4 financial and technical partners. The number of participants was stopped at the saturation of the information sought. A thematic content analysis was done using Microsoft Excel.
Results: Reported perceptions about the disease and rumours about Covid-19 vaccines appear in relation to the population's adherence to vaccination. Participants mainly identified four points justifying this low level of uptake, which is associated with insufficient involvement of community-based organisations (CBOs) with recognised expertise, in the national response to COVID-19 and in the organisation of vaccination. These are: 1) their lack of information about the disease and vaccines, 2) their low representation in the bodies developing response strategies, 3) their low involvement in social communication and 4) in the organization and implementation of the vaccination campaign.
Conclusion: Better consideration of the expertise of community-based organizations in raising awareness among populations in health emergencies improves the level of information of populations and promotes their adherence to public health measures.