Risk Communications and Community Engagement for COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Indigenous Peoples in the Americas: The Experience in Colombia

In Colombia, resistance to vaccination against COVID-19 among indigenous communities was high, in part, due to a lack of culturally appropriate information and health communication strategies. In response, the Colombia country office of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), implemented an ethnic-based risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) strategy between June 2021 and March 2022. The strategy contributed to a significant increase in vaccination coverage among indigenous peoples in rural areas of Amazonas and Nariño, from total refusal to 36% and 41%, respectively, in the first year of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. The ethnic-based RCCE strategy incorporated contributions from anthropology, pedagogy, political science, communications, psychology, and methodologies such as in-depth interviews, knowledge dialogues, and intercultural health training. The implementation of this experience in Colombia helped build trust between indigenous communities and health workers, appropriately addressed cultural beliefs and practices related to health and disease, and established meaningful links between traditional and Western medicine in Nariño and Amazonas, the two provinces (departments) where it was implemented. This article presents this strategy as a significant tool for increasing vaccination coverage in indigenous communities.