How to cite this article: Mudenda S. COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptability and Hesitancy in Africa: Implications for Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy. J Biomed Res Environ Sci. 2021 Oct 29; 2(10): 999-1004. doi: 10.37871/jbres1342, Article ID: JBRES1342, Available at: https:// www.jelsciences.com/articles/jbres1342.pdf REVIEW ARTICLE COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptability and Hesitancy in Africa: Implications for Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy Steward Mudenda* University of Zambia, School of Health Sciences, Department of Pharmacy, P.O. Box 50110, Lusaka, Zambia *Corresponding author Steward Mudenda, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, University of Zambia, P.O Box 50110, Lusaka, Zambia Tel: +260-977-549-974 E-mail: freshsteward@gmail.com DOI: 10.37871/jbres1342 Submitted: 21 October 2021 Accepted: 28 October 2021 Published: 29 October 2021 Copyright: © 2021 Mudenda S. Distributed under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 OPEN ACCESS Keywords  COVID-19  COVID-19 vaccines  Vaccine acceptance  Vaccine acceptability  Vaccine hesitancy  Healthcare workers  Medical students  Africa VOLUME: 2 ISSUE: 10 - OCTOBER MEDICINE GROUP PUBLIC HEALTH Background: Increased acceptance and uptake of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines is very essential in containing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy is a threat to public health containment of infectious diseases. Aim: The main aim of this study was to review published articles regarding COVID-19 vaccine acceptability and hesitancy across all populations in Africa. Materials and methods: This was a narrative review. A comprehensive literature search was done using PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and EMBASE using the keywords vaccine acceptability, vaccine hesitancy, COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19 pandemic, H1N1 vaccine, swine flu, swine flu vaccine, Africa, and the Boolean word AND. The cited literature was published between March 2001 and June 2021. Results: The few studies were done in Africa so far are among healthcare workers and medical students. Acceptance of vaccination against COVID-19 in Africa ranged from 15.4% to 55.9%. This shows increased hesitancy to receive the COVID-19 vaccines in African countries. Many people were concerned about the potential adverse effects and ineffectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. Misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines has contributed to the hesitancy reported from different studies. Moreover, sociodemographic characteristics were also predictors of the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines. Conclusion: Low acceptability rates reported in Africa indicates increased hesitancy to vaccination against COVID-19. The low acceptance of vaccines in Africa can hinder the required 60-70% vaccinations to achieve herd immunity. Therefore, there is a need to develop strategies that will address hesitancy against the COVID-19 vaccines across countries and populations in Africa and the entire globe. ABSTRACT Background The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged as a global public health problem in China [1,2]. The outbreak that began in China later spread to the entire globe and was declared a pandemic on 11 th March 2021 by the World Health Organization [3-5]. COVID-19 is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and is highly contagious [6-9]. Due to its ease of transmission and spread, many countries across the globe introduced preventive measures such as lockdowns, restrictions in movements, the universal wearing of face masks, social distancing, quarantine, and adequate handwashing [10-14]. The countries that adhered to these preventive measures reported a decrease in the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths [12,15]. However, with time, the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths still surged in many countries, indicating the need for a better strategy to contain the virus while adhering to the recommended preventive measures. This led to the need for the