FWRM Rapid Assessment on Women’s Perceptions of COVID-19 Vaccine finds that 51.5% of respondents considered taking herbal and traditional medicine if they developed any symptoms

One of the key findings of the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement’s Rapid Assessment on Fijian Women’s Perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine is that 51.5% of respondents considered taking herbal and traditional medicine if they developed any COVID-19 symptoms.

Fiji Women’s Rights Movement Executive Director, Nalini Singh says 51% of the respondents had a mixture of positive and negative feelings about the vaccine and 10.9% were completely negative about taking the vaccine.

The research also revealed that more than half of respondents of the Assessment were determined to get vaccinated.

The Assessment found that 58.4% of the respondents had received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and this correlated with the 83.7% of the respondents being positive about vaccines in general.

53.4% of respondents who had received their first dose were keen to get the second dose once the opportunity was available.

The Assessment highlighted that education and income levels as significant factors in influencing the Fijian women’s perceptions and uptake of the vaccine.

Singh says a total of 61% of respondents held an undergraduate degree and 23% a postgraduate qualification. Less than 15% held qualifications lower than a degree.

She says this means that many of the respondents were literate and likely to be more informed about the vaccine influencing their decision to get vaccinated.

Singh says the health seeking behaviour of Fijian women was also analysed and the Assessment found that 69% of the respondents did not see herbal and traditional medicine as being a better substitute of the COVID-19 vaccine.

She says it is extremely concerning that the Fijian women's perceptions around the COVID-19 vaccine is ranging from mixed to negative.

Singh says this needs to be urgently addressed through collaborative approaches taking into consideration the health seeking behaviour of women.

The Assessment also includes recommendations particularly on a communications strategy that factors social and cultural nuances to influence greater behavioural change, together with the provision of sex disaggregated data by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services on recipients of the vaccine.

A total of 574 women from around the country participated in the online survey to gauge their perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement conducted the Rapid Assessment on Fijian Women’s Perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine last month, supported by the Australian Government through the We Rise Coalition in partnership with Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development.

This Assessment was carried out to understand the perceptions of the Fijian women in relation to the COVID-19 vaccination as there is a lack of sex disaggregated data available on recipients of the vaccine.