The Vaccination Demand Observatory: Developing Equitable National Vaccine Social Listening Programs

Abstract for Preformed Panel Presentation from the 2022 International SBCC Summit in Morocco:

"Amidst the pandemic, global inequities in access to COVID-19 vaccines have been accompanied by rising inequities in access to accurate, relevant health information. Effective and equitable social listening activities that capture both on- and offline community information sources are critical to understanding and responding to people's concerns and information needs in ways that build durable vaccine confidence and demand. Since 2020, the Vaccine Demand Observatory (VDO) - a global collaboration along UNICEF [United Nations Children's Fund], The Public Good Projects (PGP) and The Yale Institute for Global Health (YIGH) - has been working to build and strengthen country-specific social listening programs to help local partners counter misinformation and boost demand for vaccination. Offering support across three core service areas - Social Listening, Vaccine Communications, and Training and Technical Assistance - the VDO supports UNICEF Country Offices and their partners and stakeholders to expand their abilities to systematically identify, track, and respond to misinformation and gaps in information. Drawing on multiple country examples, early implementation experiences highlight both the impact potential of multi-sectoral social partnerships in this space, alongside resourcing and coordination gaps and capacity-strengthening needs that limit the effectiveness of current social listening programs. For example, very few countries systematically used social listening systems, and even fewer had a dedicated social analyst function. Key questions that will be addressed in this panel were informed by this multicountry experience."