What is the Vaccine Data CoLab?
Gita Luz, Vaccine Data CoLab lead for innovation and behaviour change
Why we exist
How might approaches powered by hyperlocal data increase vaccine uptake in under-immunised and vulnerable communities?
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the crucial role data and insight can play in making informed decisions around the prioritisation of scarce health resources and stimulating vaccine demand within vulnerable groups.
According to WHO’s latest COVID-19 strategy, many of those at greatest risk from the disease still remain unprotected. Only 28% of older people and 37% of health care workers in low-income countries have received their primary course of vaccines and most have not received booster doses.
Delivered by Brink and DT Global and funded by UK Aid, the Vaccine Data CoLab was established to make hyperlocal data accessible, so that decisions on improving vaccine uptake could be made in real time. By funding local collaborations, promoting data sharing and coordinating with the global community on what works, the CoLab bridges the gap between countries’ data needs, existing data systems, and appropriate technologies. We call this approach ‘precision public health’.
What we’ve done so far
Born from the UK Aid funded COVIDaction programme in March 2020, the Vaccine Data CoLab combines grantmaking, partnerships and collective action, along with rigorous experimentation to create systemic change. Some of the work we have delivered within the past year includes:
✔ Convened collaborations with global vaccine research and data partners to avoid costly duplication (estimated 6-figure sums) of effort and translate research into action on the ground across 18 countries.
✔ Field testing COVAX GIS (geographic information systems) Microplanning handbook and e-Learning tools to support the capacity building of governments and local partners to use and apply GIS data for public health challenges.
✔ Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Nigeria is using data dashboards developed by Fraym to use in their COVID-19 digital micro-planning to design better real-time interventions.
✔ PATH co-designed and developed the COVID-19 digital vaccination certificates for the Government of Vietnam which was accepted by 17 countries and supported the re-opening of the country.
What’s next for the Vaccine Data CoLab
The start of the pandemic required a global response to vaccine prioritisation, and so our focus was on surfacing global data tools and building global networks.
Now the pandemic is entering a new stage: one where the challenge is focused on reaching and generating demand in undervaccinated populations that span a range of localities and contexts.
Given this shift, we are using a hyperlocal data approach to identify WHO is hesitant, WHERE they are, and WHY; so we can then design targeted vaccine behaviour change programmes.
Our two track approach looks at both depth and breadth to enable rich learning across multiple contexts in Africa and Asia.
Track 1: In-depth experimentation in key regions with low vaccine uptake amongst vulnerable communities
- Africa Two Country Test Bed Portfolios: a hyperlocal targeted approach across two FCDO priority countries (Nigeria and Uganda) to catalyse vaccine behaviour change interventions. We will map the existing health data landscape, work with key local actors and HBCC grantees to identify problem spaces, and fund a portfolio of grants to unlock data solutions to aid decision making for local actors
- ASEAN Experiment: an experiment in Indonesia using a community-based and data-driven approach to address vaccine hesitancy. We will work with local partners Aisyiyah,Tulodo and the Asia-Pacific Behavioural Insights Team to test an intervention to improve vaccine uptake.
For the two African countries, we will employ a “testbed” approach which involves four main workstreams:
- Assess: understanding the country’s health data ecosystem so we build on what exists.
- Analyse: convening key actors and surfacing the challenges they face and translating it into key questions and priorities.
- Action: funding a portfolio of data grantees that are interconnected solutions to a systemic problem (vs. single-point solutions).
- Learn and Evaluate: bringing together key actors across governments, NGOs and businesses to form an in-country Learning Network.
This approach ensures we are connecting the dots in-country and with global partners to maximise existing resources in what is usually a disjointed array of data tools, actors and decision makers. This methodology can be replicated across different countries & health topics.
Track 2: a breadth of support for the Hygiene & Behaviour Change Coalition (HBCC) and FCDO’s C-19 Behaviour Change Forum
We are supporting 10 HBCC grantees across 18 countries in Africa and Asia through:
- Light-touch 1–1 Vaccine Data Help Desk support
- Network learning events on vaccine data
- Enabling access to country vaccine data through powerful partners and data sharing agreements such as the Vaccine Confidence Project
This approach allows us to spot and share learning across different settings and amplify the work of FCDO, Unilever and the HBCC grantees across both WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and vaccine campaigns.
This exciting two track approach is paving the way for the innovative use of data in improving COVID-19 vaccine programmes, building resilient health and data systems and creating capacity to support future pandemics and general public health programming and decision-making.
We are looking for multi-sector partners who work in vaccine planning and delivery to help us harness the power of data for decision-making on the ground in Nigeria, Uganda and Indonesia. Reach us at VaccineData@MakingBetterFutures.org
