The UK Government will convene the world’s first Global Vaccine Confidence Summit on June 2 in an effort to drive vaccine uptake in the fight against COVID-19.
Misinformation continues to pose one of the biggest threats to global recovery from the pandemic by damaging perceptions of the importance, safety, and effectiveness of vaccines.
The UK is working throughout it’s G7 Presidency this year to improve access to coronavirus vaccines, treatments and tests around the world, and vaccine confidence is a key part of that.
Speakers at the one-day event will include Matt Hancock, Department of Health and Social Care Secretary of State, UK Government and Professor Heidi Larson, Founding Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine – with more to be announced in the coming weeks.
They will discuss ways the governments, civil society and private sector – including social media companies – can tackle vaccine misinformation and amplify public health messages to improve vaccine confidence.
Ahead of the Summit, Nadhim Zahawi, Minister for Vaccine Deployment at the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care, said “Vaccines are the route out of the pandemic, and nobody is safe until we’re all safe.”
This UK-hosted Summit is a significant opportunity for G7 countries to come together with partners across the world to take action to maintain high levels of trust in vaccines and those that provide them.
The monumental vaccination program in the UK will start us on the road to building back better from Covid-19 and we must work collectively to ensure people across the world can reclaim their lives and livelihoods.
Heidi Larson, Founding Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said “I’m delighted to be taking part in the first Global Vaccine Confidence Summit because I know through my own work leading the Vaccine Confidence Project that no single government, academic institution or organisation can tackle this challenge alone.”
“To ensure the high levels of vaccine uptake needed to help end this pandemic, we need true cross-sectoral input to build trust across the various relationships – from scientists and health authorities to business partners and communities.”
“As we look ahead to preparedness for future pandemics, now is the time to think about building foundational trust to support vaccine confidence for the future.”
Caroline Dinenage, Minister for Digital and Culture at the UK’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport said, ” In the UK we have mounted a major public information campaign to arm people with the truth about vaccines in response to a rising tide of falsehoods online. We’ve worked closely with social media companies to identify, remove and respond to this dangerous disinformation. We know these are challenges faced across the globe and we look forward to discussing our approach with our G7 partners and like-minded countries.”
Wendy Morton, Minister for Global Health at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said “Global equitable access to coronavirus vaccines is key to eliminating the threat of the virus in the UK as well as overseas. That’s why the UK is one of the largest country donors to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, helping to make vaccinations available to all.”
The Global Vaccine Confidence Summit is an opportunity for the international community to build trust in vaccines, as these are key to a global recovery. No one is safe until everyone is safe.
The virtual summit will enable global partners to focus their efforts on vaccine confidence as a key driver of vaccine uptake; the role that insight and behavioural science can play in addressing the threat of health misinformation; and how global collaboration can deliver trustworthy communications.
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