Ensuring Access to COVID Vaccines in Low & Mid-Inc Countries: Avail. & Accept.

• In Event: Political Information, Ideas, and Power in the Pandemic Response to COVID-19

Abstract

Globally, two major narratives have emerged explaining low vaccine uptake in LMICs, one stressing low availability (inequitable supply) and another stressing low vaccine acceptance by the public due to low trust (low demand). This paper aims to empirically examine the relative contribution of these twin barriers to vaccine uptake. Using nationally-representative survey data including 15,916 responses from 8 African and 9 Western Pacific countries collected in Summer and Fall 2021, we examine national differences in vaccine availability, acceptability and uptake as well as individual-level predictors affecting vaccine uptake that encompass both availability and acceptability. We find that both low availability and acceptability pose barriers to access in a manner that tends to compound in countries with the lowest levels both capacity and trust. Based on these findings we develop a model that suggests a low-capacity and low-trust feedback loop, with compounding effects on policy compliance.

Author

• Ashley M Fox, SUNY at Albany