Motivating factors for and barriers to the COVID-19 vaccine uptake: A review of social media data in Zambia

Figures & data

Table 1. Comments reviewed

Media source	Total comments reviewed	Eligible responses	% eligible comments
Facebook	400	88	3.67%
Twitter	400	99	4.13%
Smart Eagles	400	96	4.0%
Zambian Eye	400	101	4.21%
News Diggers	400	65	2.7%
Zambia Watchdog	400	55	2.29%
Total	2,400	505	21%

Table 2. Themes from data collected

Major theme	Sub-theme
Motivating factors for vaccination	Increase of reported cases of COVID-19
	Accessibility and availability of vaccines
	Vaccine certificates required to travel out of the country
	A credible source of information increased trust in the vaccine
Barriers/challenges affecting vaccination	Lack of knowledge/information on the relevance of vaccination
	Negative perception of the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine
	Mistrust in Western medicine
	Lack of belief in conventional medicine versus belief in God
	Confusing information about who was eligible
	A belief that public figures were not being injected
Strategies to encourage vaccination	Involvement of local scientist
	Demand generation through media platforms
	Community sensitization
	Information communication/COVID-19 vaccine materials
	Creation of an enabling environment for communities to feel involved