“Engaging those who know” community influencers’ involvement in d SBCC immunization promotion in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Childhood vaccination rates in Latin America and the Caribbean have fallen from being among the highest globally, to one of the lowest over the past decades. The assessment of behavioural and social drivers is critical in any intervention designed to increase vaccination coverage. Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) embodies key concepts to identify barriers and motivators to change. PAHO, Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and collaborating partners supported the development of a SBCC intervention in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) to improve vaccination coverage.  A three-pronged method: 1) Qualitative research explored attitudes and perceptions towards lifetime vaccines among Health Care Providers (HCP) and Community Influencers (CI).  2) SBCC capacity building workshops to train HCP and CI from nine health- districts in vaccine promotion. 3) Trained participants implemented vaccine promotion interventions in health districts. The research identified positive attitudes towards lifetime vaccines, however, concerns about COVID- 19 vaccines. Workshop evaluation indicated positive shift in attitudes among participants towards vaccines. Community-based vaccination drives were completed in eight health districts, and the target for administering 120 vaccines was exceeded to 242. Key principles of SBCC were applied in the intervention. The engagement of CIs demonstrated partnership and ownership that positively impacted outcome.  Innovative outreach immunization interventions are critical when introducing new vaccines. Research was limited to COVID-19 vaccine however, qualitative research can improve understanding towards the range of new vaccines. Community engagement approach can be incorporated into national health programmes to enhance uptake of other available lifetime vaccines.