Convenient Access and Invitations: Increasing COVID-19 Vaccination in Kenya

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health guidelines became politicized in many countries. Mandates on social distancing and quarantine policies, and later compulsory vaccinations, were soon employed, but not without generating backlash from unwilling participants who felt pressured to join in on the campaign.

During COVID-19, this recoil has generated a major issue for public health organizations. Campaigns to increase vaccinations are necessary to ensure that a population is well-protected from disease, but if a campaign pressures people disproportionately, it produces the opposite effect, where fewer people are vaccinated than otherwise. To prevent dwindling vaccination rates, what can be done to increase vaccinations without making people feel pressured and instigating backlash?

In a forthcoming study, Elisa Maffioli, Assistant Professor of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan, and coauthors examine how undue pressure can affect COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in Kenya. Their study investigates whether undue pressure motivates vaccination behavior by evaluating a campaign where healthcare providers would visit homes and invite adults to be vaccinated to a site nearby, randomizing the announcement of the visit ahead of time. Their findings suggest that not only that there was no evidence of undue pressure, but the visit announcement increased vaccinations. More generally, their campaign (announcing or non-announcing the visit by healthcare providers) increased vaccinations. The effects persisted three months after the intervention, suggesting that the campaign induced people to get vaccinated who would not have done so otherwise.

On Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 12:15-1:45 PM EDT, join Elisa Maffioli for a hybrid research seminar on the effect of undue pressure on behavioral motivation and its implications on COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in Kenya.

This seminar is part of the Spring 2024 Human Capital Initiative Research Seminar Series. Lunch will be provided at the event.

Register to attend in-person:

https://gdpcenter.org/HCI-Maffioli-In-Person-2024

Register to attend online:

https://gdpcenter.org/HCI-Zoom-Spring-2024