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. 2023 Aug 15;11(8):1366.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines11081366.

A Qualitative Study on Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Community Members in Tanzania

Melina Bernard Mgongo  1 , Rachel N Manongi  1 , Innocent B Mboya  1   2 , James S Ngocho  1 , Caroline Amour  1 , Monica Mtei  1   3 , Julieth S Bilakwate  1 , Ahmed Yusuph Nyaki  1 , Johnston M George  1 , Beatrice J Leyaro  1 , Amina Farah  4 , James T Kengia  5 , Florian Tinuga  6 , Abdalla H Bakari  7 , Fatimata B Kirakoya  8 , Awet Araya  8 , Ntuli A Kapologwe  5 , Sia E Msuya  1   9
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A Qualitative Study on Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Community Members in Tanzania

Melina Bernard Mgongo et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

The use of vaccines is one of the key tools in reversing the COVID-19 pandemic; however, various reports reported the low uptake of the vaccines. This study explored the barriers to the COVID-19 vaccine uptake among community members in Tanzania. A qualitative explorative study was conducted in December 2021 and April 2022 in eight regions of Tanzania. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) were the methods of data collection. A total of 48 FGDs and 32 IDIs were conducted. Participants were aware of the COVID-19 disease and vaccines. The barriers to the COVID-19 vaccine non-uptake included receiving contradicting statements from top government leaders, vaccine preceded the education, myths towards vaccines, the presence of different types of vaccines, the process of getting the vaccine, the influence of social media and random people from the community, and vaccine conflicting religious beliefs. Despite being aware of the vaccine, the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine is still low. Interventions that focus on increasing community knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines and addressing myths about the vaccines are needed.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Tanzania; barriers; facilitators; perceptions; qualitative; vaccine hesitancy; vaccine uptake.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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