{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Abdullah M"],"funding":["Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation"],"pagination":["e0274718"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9714835"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["17(12)"],"pubmed_abstract":["Developing countries have been facing difficulties in reaching out to low-income and underserved communities for COVID-19 vaccination coverage. The rapidity of vaccine development caused a mistrust among certain subgroups of the population, and hence innovative approaches were taken to reach out to such populations. Using a sample of 1760 respondents in five low-income, informal localities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan, we evaluated a set of interventions involving community engagement by addressing demand and access barriers. We used multi-level mixed effects models to estimate average treatment effects across treatment areas. We found that our interventions increased COVID-19 vaccine willingness in two treatment areas that are furthest from city centers by 7.6% and 6.6% respectively, while vaccine uptake increased in one of the treatment areas by 17.1%, compared to the control area. Our results suggest that personalized information campaigns such as community mobilization help to increase COVID-19 vaccine willingness. Increasing uptake however, requires improving access to the vaccination services. Both information and access may be different for various communities and therefore a \"one-size-fits-all\" approach may need to be better localized. Such underserved and marginalized communities are better served if vaccination efforts are contextualized."],"journal":["PloS one"],"pubmed_title":["Community engagement to increase vaccine uptake: Quasi-experimental evidence from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan."],"pmcid":["PMC9714835"],"funding_grant_id":["INV-025171"],"pubmed_authors":["Khan AA","Safdar RM","Abdullah M","Ahmad T","Kazmi T","Sultan F","Afzal S"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Community engagement to increase vaccine uptake: Quasi-experimental evidence from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan.","description":"Developing countries have been facing difficulties in reaching out to low-income and underserved communities for COVID-19 vaccination coverage. The rapidity of vaccine development caused a mistrust among certain subgroups of the population, and hence innovative approaches were taken to reach out to such populations. Using a sample of 1760 respondents in five low-income, informal localities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan, we evaluated a set of interventions involving community engagement by addressing demand and access barriers. We used multi-level mixed effects models to estimate average treatment effects across treatment areas. We found that our interventions increased COVID-19 vaccine willingness in two treatment areas that are furthest from city centers by 7.6% and 6.6% respectively, while vaccine uptake increased in one of the treatment areas by 17.1%, compared to the control area. Our results suggest that personalized information campaigns such as community mobilization help to increase COVID-19 vaccine willingness. Increasing uptake however, requires improving access to the vaccination services. Both information and access may be different for various communities and therefore a \"one-size-fits-all\" approach may need to be better localized. Such underserved and marginalized communities are better served if vaccination efforts are contextualized.","dates":{"release":"2022-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2022","modification":"2026-03-16T08:12:34.015Z","creation":"2025-04-05T14:41:08.837Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC9714835","cross_references":{"pubmed":["36454856"],"doi":["10.1371/journal.pone.0274718"]}}