COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Africa:a scoping review

Background:Vaccination against the novel coronavirus is one of the most effective strategies for combating the global Coronavirus disease(COVID-19)pandemic.However,vaccine hesitancy has emerged as a major obstacle in several regions of the world,including Africa.The objective of this rapid review was to summarize the literature on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Africa.Methods:We searched Scopus,Web of Science,African Index Medicus,and OVID Medline for studies published from January 1,2020,to March 8,2022,examining acceptance or hesitancy towards the COVID-19 vaccine in Africa.Study characteristics and reasons for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance were extracted from the included articles.Results:A total of 71 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the review.Majority(n=25,35%)of the studies were conducted in Ethiopia.Studies conducted in Botswana,Cameroun,Cote D’Ivoire,DR Congo,Ghana,Kenya,Morocco,Mozambique,Nigeria,Somalia,South Africa,Sudan,Togo,Uganda,Zambia,Zimbabwe were also included in the review.The vaccine acceptance rate ranged from 6.9 to 97.9%.The major reasons for vaccine hesitancy were concerns with vaccine safety and side effects,lack of trust for pharmaceutical industries and misinformation or conflicting information from the media.Factors associated with positive attitudes towards the vaccine included being male,having a higher level of education,and fear of contracting the virus.Conclusions:Our review demonstrated the contextualized and multifaceted reasons inhibiting or encouraging vaccine uptake in African countries.This evidence is key to operationalizing interventions based on facts as opposed to assumptions.Our paper provided important considerations for addressing the challenge of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and blunting the impact of the pandemic in Africa.

The direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and child health services in Africa:a scoping review

Introduction:The novel coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)continues to disrupt the availability and utilization of routine and emergency health care services,with differing impacts in jurisdictions across the world.In this scoping review,we set out to synthesize documentation of the direct and indirect effect of the pandemic,and national responses to it,on maternal,newborn and child health(MNCH)in Africa.Methods:A scoping review was conducted to provide an overview of the most significant impacts identified up to March 15,2022.We searched MEDLINE,Embase,HealthSTAR,Web of Science,PubMed,and Scopus electronic databases.We included peer reviewed literature that discussed maternal and child health in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic,published from January 2020 to March 2022,and written in English.Papers that did not focus on the African region or an African country were excluded.A data-charting form was developed by the two reviewers to determine which themes to extract,and narrative descriptions were written about the extracted thematic areas.Results:Four-hundred and seventy-eight articles were identified through our literature search and 27 were deemed appropriate for analysis.We identified three overarching themes:delayed or decreased care,disruption in service provision and utilization and mitigation strategies or recommendations.Our results show that minor consideration was given to preserving and promoting health service access and utilization for mothers and children,especially in historically underserved areas in Africa.Conclusions:Reviewed literature illuminates the need for continued prioritization of maternity services,immunization,and reproductive health services.This prioritization was not given the much-needed attention during the COVID-19 pandemic yet is necessary to shield the continent’s most vulnerable population segments from the shocks of current and future global health emergencies.