A network to help build vaccine confidence among health workers and the population in Sub-Saharan African

The introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine has highlighted the problem of vaccine hesitancy in Africa. This trend is in part driven by the spread of anti-vaccine information on social media. As this gains further traction, it could lead to a sharp increase in vaccine hesitancy rates and weaken confidence in other essential vaccines. The broader aim of this project is to monitor and respond to vaccine hesitancy among health workers and the population in four African countries. Targeting health workers is a good starting point to addressing vaccine hesitancy within their own networks since health workers are often severely affected by pandemics and health threats due to their occupational risk. Vaccines can protect health workers, the health system and the patients they care for. Health workers are also important for maintaining and building vaccine confidence in the wider community, given their roles in vaccine delivery, information giving and promotion. Therefore, they need to be seen as trusted and important allies in building nationwide vaccine confidence for existing and emerging vaccines. The aim of this project is to develop a network across four African countries (Benin, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda) that are experiencing vaccine hesitancy among health workers and the population amid the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. The network shall further serve as a platform to explore various research questions with the aim to jointly develop a research proposal.