The SABII group (lead by Prof. Julie Leask and Dr Kerrie Wiley) and the IDIE group (led by A/Prof. Meru Sheel) have been awarded funding of $244,000 from the World Health Organization to carry out a three-part study on a topic of emerging importance at a global level – resilient demand in immunisation. We conceptualise resilient demand as the capacity of a population to withstand direct and indirect threats to confidence in vaccination.
The program of work will include a rapid review of published and grey literature, key informant interviews and case studies of countries that sustained high levels of vaccination, to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted early childhood and HPV vaccination, and the drivers that influence resilience. The project will generate recommendations which can support the WHO’s efforts to recover and strengthen immunisation coverage.
This research will be an important contribution as common narratives suggest that COVID-19 has negatively impacted confidence and trust in vaccination, authorities, and related health systems. However, little data is available to substantiate these generalizations. The lack of data is primarily hampered by limited baseline data prior to COVID-19 on the full scope of behavioural drivers of vaccination plus peripheral factors such as political influences. To understand the direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic on the drivers of vaccination uptake, as well as related implications for future planning, a comprehensive review of all such factors is required.
SSPH colleagues who will be involved in the project: Julie Leask, Meru Sheel, Madeleine Randell, Cyra Patel, Maria Christou-Ergos, Catherine King, Majdi Dafallah, Ikram Abdi and Pen Robinson.