GLEAN: Gathering Learning, Evidence, Analysis, and News: Issue 2: Supporting COVID-19 vaccine uptake among teachers in Wakiso, Uganda

As part of Save the Children’s global Safe Back to School program, Save the Children (SC) Uganda identified a need to support the teacher vaccination drive and help children back into the classrooms. Save the Children Uganda teamed up with CUBIC to use behavioral insights to investigate why teachers may be hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination and find ways to  help them overcome these hesitancies. This short briefing note and infographic summarises the research and findings.

Children and teachers in Uganda experienced the world’s longest school closures due to COVID-19. After nearly 2 years, schools  were allowed to reopen in January 2022, on the provison that all teachers had been vaccinated. The President made this mandate clear in September 2021, but teachers around the country continued to be hesitant in seeking vaccination. To understand the specific challenges and concerns of teachers in Wakiso, CUBIC and SC Uganda conducted  qualitative interviews with teachers, head teachers, local health workers and members of school Parent Teacher Associations.  This formative research identified three main barriers to seeking vaccination— information, motivation and accessibility. Using the behavioral strategies identified in our resource, The Little Jab Book, we were able to test some practical approaches to address these barriers and support teachers towards vaccination.