The British Academy funds new research into COVID-19 vaccine engagement across the G7 nations

The British Academy has awarded funding to seven research projects focused on COVID-19 vaccine engagement across the G7 group of nations.

The research programme – “COVID-19 Recovery: building future pandemic preparedness and understanding citizen engagement in the G7” – provides UK and G7-based researchers in the humanities and social sciences with funding to pursue research focused on vaccine engagement in the G7 group of nations: Japan, Canada, Italy, Germany and France.

Funded by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, each award is worth up to £100,000 and will last for up to five months in duration.

The funding follows a series of statements by leading social science and humanities representative bodies from across the G7 urging those governments to "seize the moment" and lead a "globally equitable" recovery from the long-term societal impacts of COVID-19.

Professor Simon Goldhill FBA, Foreign Secretary of the British Academy, said:

“Experts in the humanities and social sciences are uniquely placed to make sense of the complex impacts of the pandemic on all aspects of society. This timely funding programme aims to facilitate global and interconnected learning about the contexts, causes and factors that influence engagement with the COVID-19 vaccine in the G7. The insights provided by the research teams will help policymakers to develop more effective strategies for building engagement with the COVID-19 vaccine, accelerating the international recovery from the pandemic. I look forward to seeing the results from these fascinating projects.”

The full list of awards is: 

• "Vaccine Equity in Multicultural Urban Settings: A Comparative Analysis of Local Government and Community Action, Contextualised Political Economies, and Moral Frameworks in Toronto and Marseille" – Dr Santiago Ripoll, Institute of Development Studies; Ms Tabitha Hrynick, Institute of Development Studies; Dr Ashley Ouvrier, LaSSA; Professor Kathleen Wilson, University of Toronto Mississauga
• "Ethnographies of (Dis)Engagement: Understanding Vaccine Rejection in Chronically Neglected Communities Across the G7" – Dr Elizabeth Storer, London School of Economics and Political Science; Professor Marco Burgalassi, Universita Roma Tre; Dr Naomi Pendle, University of Bath; Dr Iliana Sarafian, London School of Economics and Political Science
• "Diffusion of COVID-19 Vaccines: Building Vaccine Confidence Among Diverse Communities in Canada and the United Kingdom" – Dr Agnes Nanyonjo, University of Lincoln; Professor Kelly Grindrod, University of Waterloo; Professor Aloysius Niroshan, University of Lincoln; Dr Moses Tetui, University of Waterloo
• "STRIVE - Sustainable Translations to Reduce Inequalities and Vaccination hesitancy" – Professor Federico Federici, University College London; Professor Rachele Antonini, Università di Bologna; Dr Andrea Ciribuco, University College London
• "Fighting Fake News: Online Disinformation in COVID Times" – Dr Itziar Castello, University of Surrey; Dr Elanor Colleoni, IULM University Milan; Dr Marie Joachim, Essca School of Management; Dr Noreen O’Meara, University of Surrey
• "Mapping the Roles of Divisions, Risk and Norms to Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy in the UK, Germany and Italy" – Professor Thorsten Chmura, Nottingham Trent University; Dr Maria Karanika-Murray, Nottingham Trent University; Dr Ludovica Orlandi, Nottingham Trent University
• "Adapting to the ‘New Normal’: Implications for Post-COVID-19 Health Communication and Education" – Dr Melissa Jogie, Roehampton University; Dr James Gilleen, Roehampton University; Professor Christopher Smith, Nagasaki University