Contextualizing future maternal RSV vaccination acceptance and trust among pregnant and lactating women in Kenya: A latent class analysis

Maternal vaccination, or vaccination in pregnancy, offers a critical opportunity to provide protection to pregnant women and simultaneously confer passive immunity to infants in the first months of life, when infections are particularly serious and their immune systems are still developing. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one such serious infectious disease for newborns, but a newly approved and recommended vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus has been designed to be given to pregnant women to protect their newborns from severe RSV disease when they are most vulnerable. While maternal vaccination has been used for tetanus, pertussis, influenza, COVID-19, and other diseases, vaccination in pregnancy can present unique challenges related to hesitancy and delivery, particularly in lower-resourced settings. Using data from a cross-sectional survey of 400 pregnant and lactating women in Nakuru and Mombasa Counties in Kenya, we examined knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs related to maternal vaccination and RSV through a latent class analysis. We identified two distinct archetypes among study subjects, maternal vaccine questioners and maternal vaccine acceptors, with notable differences in perceived vaccination-enabling social norms and use of private health facilities between the two groups. This respondent-driven approach to identify groups that may require different communication strategies can help to shape efforts to target preparations for future RSV vaccine introduction in Kenya and inform tailored health promotion strategies to support informed, confident maternal vaccination decision-making among providers, communities, and pregnant women.