• Jobs of the World
  • Mentoring Programme
  • Login for Grantees
  • Code of Conduct
  • About
    • History
    • Investigators
    • Team
  • Projects
    • GLM|LIC
      • Agricultural Labour Markets
      • Gender and Employment
      • Labour Markets in Low-Income Countries
      • Migration
      • Skill Training
    • G²LM|LIC
      • Fact & Policy
      • Fertility & Labour markets
      • Barriers to gender parity
      • The Future of Work
      • Policies & Welfare
    • COVID-19
  • Publications
    • Policy Briefs
    • Synthesis Papers
    • Working Papers
    • Published Articles
    • Book
    • Datasets
  • Events
  • For Policy Makers
Search
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Published Article

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in low- and middle-income countries

Widespread acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines is crucial for achieving sufficient immunization coverage to end the global pandemic, yet few studies have investigated COVID-19 vaccination attitudes in lower-income countries, where large-scale vaccination is just beginning. We analyze COVID-19 vaccine acceptance across 15 survey samples covering 10 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in Asia, Africa and South America, Russia (an upper-middle-income country) and the United States, including a total of 44,260 individuals. We find considerably higher willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine in our LMIC samples (mean 80.3%; median 78%; range 30.1 percentage points) compared with the United States (mean 64.6%) and Russia (mean 30.4%). Vaccine acceptance in LMICs is primarily explained by an interest in personal protection against COVID-19, while concern about side effects is the most common reason for hesitancy. Health workers are the most trusted sources of guidance about COVID-19 vaccines. Evidence from this sample of LMICs suggests that prioritizing vaccine distribution to the Global South should yield high returns in advancing global immunization coverage. Vaccination campaigns should focus on translating the high levels of stated acceptance into actual uptake. Messages highlighting vaccine efficacy and safety, delivered by healthcare workers, could be effective for addressing any remaining hesitancy in the analyzed LMICs.

Title COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in low- and middle-income countries
Author
  • Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak
  • Pedro Vicente
  • Jacob Shapiro
  • Ali Cheema
  • Julio S. Solís Arce
  • Shana S. Warren
  • Niccolò F. Meriggi
  • Alexandra Scacco
  • Nina McCurry
  • Maarten Voors
  • Georgiy Syunyaev
  • Amyn Abdul Malik
  • Samya Aboutajdine
  • Opeyemi Adeojo
  • Deborah Anigo
  • Alex Armand
  • Saher Asad
  • Martin Atyera
  • Britta Augsburg
  • Manisha Awasthi
  • Gloria Eden Ayesiga
  • Antonella Bancalari
  • Martina Björkman Nyqvist
  • Ekaterina Borisova
  • Constantin Manuela Bosancianu
  • Margarita Rosa Cabra García
  • Elliott Collins
  • Filippo Cuccaro
  • Ahsan Zia Farooqi
  • Tatheer Fatima
  • Mattia Fracchia
  • Mery Len Galindo Soria
  • Andrea Guariso
  • Ali Hasanain
  • Sofía Jaramillo
  • Sellu Kallon
  • Anthony Kamwesigye
  • Arjun Kharel
  • Sarah Kreps
  • Madison Levine
  • Rebecca Littman
  • Mohammad Malik
  • Gisele Manirabaruta
  • Jean Léodomir Habarimana Mfura
  • Fatoma Momoh
  • Alberto Mucauque
  • Imamo Mussa
  • Jean Aime Nsabimana
  • Isaac Obara
  • María Juliana Otálora
  • Béchir Wendemi Ouédraogo
  • Touba Bakary Pare
  • Melina R. Platas
  • Laura Polanco
  • Javaeria Ashraf Qureshi
  • Mariam Raheem
  • Vasudha Ramakrishna
  • Ismail Rendrá
  • Taimur Shah
  • Sarene Eyla Shaked
  • Jakob Svensson
  • Ahsan Tariq
  • Achille Mignondo Tchibozo
  • Hamid Ali Tiwana
  • Bhartendu Trivedi
  • Corey Vernot
  • Laurin B. Weissinger
  • Basit Zafar
  • Baobao Zhang
  • Dean Karlan
  • Michael Callen
  • Matthieu Teachout
  • Macartan Humphreys
  • Saad B. Omer
Published in Nature Medicine 27, 1358-1394
Publication Date 16/07/2021
Thematic AreaCOVID-19
Project Seasonal Migration and Agricultural Labour Markets in Nepal
See Published Article

sidebar

Subscribe to our mailing list
Contact us
Follow us on Bluesky
Follow us on X

Established in 1998 in Bonn, Germany, IZA is an independent, non-profit research institution supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation with a focus on the analysis of global labour markets. It operates an international network of about 1,500 economists and researchers spanning across more than 50 countries.

Based on academic excellence and an ambitious publication strategy, IZA serves as a place of communication between academic science and political practice.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) leads the UK's work to end extreme poverty. We're ending the need for aid by creating jobs, unlocking the potential of girls and women, and helping to save lives when humanitarian emergencies hit.

FCDO is a ministerial department, supported by 12 agencies and public bodies.

© 2012–2025 | IZA – Institute of Labor Economics | Code of Conduct | Imprint