SBC Works! "É tic-tac, e já está!” – COVID-19 vaccine demand generation among adolescents (12-17 years old) in Mozambique

In September 2022, adolescents (12-17 years old) were included in the COVID-19 vaccination program in Mozambique. The Government of Mozambique has administrated two doses of the Pfizer vaccine in schools, health facilities, and communities. However, at the time, COVID-19 vaccination was not considered a top priority among adolescents in Mozambique due to the improvement of the epidemiologic situation, the lifting of COVID-19 containment measures (the Government announced the end of the public emergency in April 2022), and the decreased media coverage of COVID-19 narratives and associated stories.

To understand the drivers and barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among adolescents, UNICEF Mozambique conducted three studies based on the Behavioural and Social Drivers (BeSD) WHOUNICEF tool. The results detected that while risk perception (89%) and willingness (72%-74%) among adolescents to get the COVID-19 vaccine were relatively high, a large proportion expressed mistrust (40%-58%) on COVID-19 vaccines safety in the qualitative component of the research. 

Considering this challenging situation, UNICEF Mozambique supported the Ministry of Health in designing and implementing an evidence-informed COVID-19 vaccination campaign strategy to increase demand and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine among adolescents (12-17 years old).