Catalog of Tools for Assessing and Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy

"[G]iven the complexity of vaccine hesitancy, and how context specific it is, varying across time, place and vaccine, there is no silver bullet, or single intervention to addressing vaccine hesitancy."

The aim of this catalog is to provide Learning Network for Countries in Transition (LNCT) countries with a resource featuring a list of practical tools they can use to assess and address vaccine hesitancy within their country.

It was created at the request of Results for Development (R4D), which asked the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to lead a vaccine hesitancy workstream for LNCT, in response to country requests for help in supporting them in assessing and addressing their vaccine hesitancy issues. LNCT is a country-driven network dedicated to peer learning to support countries as they transition away from Gavi support to full domestic financing of their national immunisation programmes.

The table in the resource lists tools in alphabetical order, categorised by the type of support (research and measurement support and communication support). Links are provided to each document, along with a brief summary. For example, one of the many resource(s) included in the catalog include(s) guidance on:

• What to do if a caregiver refuses immunisation (audio job aid)
• Engaging communities and community leaders in dialogue (video)
• Reaching dropouts, the unreached, and socially distanced groups (video)
• Addressing rumours or myths and role in vaccine safety events (video)
• Guidance on strategies to interact with caregivers based on how hesitant they are (reference cards)

Reference is also made to three network websites that have multiple resources provided in their online archives: The CI; The Vaccine Confidence Project website; and the Vaccine Safety Communication Library, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe.

LNCT stresses that identified strategies should be carefully tailored according to the intended population. It is key to explore the underlying reasons for non-vaccination among that particular group of people and to address those reasons in a context-sensitive way.

Although there are a number of tools to assess and address vaccine hesitancy, there are still some gaps, as LNCT outlines here. For example, there is a need for more attention to hesitancy at the community and social network level, as well as to translation of more tools and guidance into multiple languages (other than English). Furthermore, there is a gap in media monitoring guidance specifically tailored to tracking vaccine hesitancy. (LNCT asserts that social media analytics allow valuable insight into public sentiments and signals of emerging issues.)