VARN2022: Shaping Global Vaccine Acceptance with Localized Knowledge
From March 1-3, 2022, we convened the Vaccination Acceptance Research Network’s inaugural conference to serve as a space for exploration, knowledge sharing and priority-setting at the intersection of immunization and social and behavioral research.

Presentations
Watch research presentations from 32 research teams in anthropology, epidemiology, public health, and medicine across academia, government, civil society and more.
Posters
Explore 10 research posters accompanied by audio recordings from our presenters.
Emerging Themes
The insights that emerged from the conference will set the stage for ongoing collaboration and future activities through VARN with our members and local, regional, and global stakeholders. Dive into the 4 themes and 14 key lessons presented in the report and find supporting research and discussions in the virtual platform.
Theme 1: Understanding Vaccine Acceptance and its Drivers
Key Lessons:
- Vaccine acceptance is complex and context-specific, varying across time, place and type of vaccine
- Vaccine inequity and weakened health systems are barriers to vaccination access and demand
Theme 2: Community and Context-Specific Approaches to Increase Vaccine Acceptance
Key Lessons:
- Community-centric methods are essential to increase vaccine acceptance
- Healthcare providers are trusted messengers, but they also need training and resources
- Non-traditional actors have power to address and improve vaccine acceptance in the community
- Social and gender inequity can act as barriers to vaccine uptake
- Communities of practice are an essential tool to drive community participation
Theme 3: Fighting the “Infodemic” & Harnessing Social Media for Good
Key Lessons:
- Misinformation flourishes in the absence of quality information, particularly on social media, and agile research practices are needed to fill information voids
- There is a need to build capacity and train infodemiologists to identify and combat misinformation
- Social media and digital health platforms can be leveraged to combat the infodemic through approaches that have the right appeal, message and messenger
- Training and science-based gaming can be effective tools
Theme 4: Frameworks, Data Integrity & Evaluation of Best Practices
Key Lessons:
- There are key social and behavioral drivers of vaccine uptake that can be targeted in communications for change
- Best practices need to be established for data collection, reporting and database harmonization
- Transdisciplinary and multi-sectoral collaboration needs to be leveraged to boost awareness and uptake
Featured Resources

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