Reaching the Last Mile: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial to Promote COVID-19 Vaccine in Bangladesh

Background: The objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of low-cost and scalable strategies in increasing COVID-19 vaccine take-up rates among the unvaccinated adult population in Bangladesh. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in four districts of Bangladesh. 12,609 unvaccinated individuals from 685 rural villages aged 18 years and above were screened. 7,299 (548) and 2,445 (137) individuals (villages) were enrolled and randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, respectively. Three interventions were randomly allocated at the village level: (1) information campaign delivered by field workers (T1), (2) information campaign by local eminent individuals (T2), and (3) information campaign by field workers and improving vaccine accessibility (T3). The control group did not receive any intervention. The…