Vaccination against COVID-19 in Bogotá - Colombia: lessons and strategies in health pedagogy, risk communication and community participation, using behavioral sciences

Abstract

Worldwide COVID-19 vaccination began in December 2020 as an event without precedents in public health history. Currently, around 12.000 million doses have been given, constituting a massive global effort to fight the pandemic. By June 2023, 70.3% of the world’s population has been vaccinated, which is almost the 80% of the goal set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Despite vaccine availability, literature describes misinformation amongst other complex and multifactorial challenges related to low vaccination coverages against COVID-19. Therefore, the success of vaccine initiatives globally highly depends on the strategies to strengthen pedagogy in public health and risk communication, so there is an adequate level of knowledge, acceptance and trust in the process and decision-making regarding COVID-19 vaccination. The objective of this revision is to present basic concepts, available tools, and recommendations for developing strategies on health pedagogy, risk communication, and community involvement to promote vaccination. In addition, these insights were based on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bogotá, where the effective implementation of a timely, clear, and targeted communication strategy based in behavioral science principles played a crucial role in the progress of vaccination efforts.