Applications are now open for the Vaccine Confidence Fund to advancing Health Online’s Vaccine Confidence Fund.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused global devastation with the
deaths of over 3 million people, disrupting economic and social prosperity with
a disproportionate impact on underserved and marginalized communities globally.
It has also significantly changed their daily lives in all aspects – from the
way they live, work, and engage with key public information, including through
the use of social media and online platforms. COVID-19 vaccines will play a
critical role in returning their societies to some sense of pre-COVID normalcy
and ultimately ending this pandemic. As vaccines become increasingly available
in all countries, the public health priority will shift from addressing
concerns around vaccine access and supply to better understanding the dynamics
of vaccine demand, hesitancy, and confidence.
The Alliance for Advancing Health Online is
comprised of members from the technology, health, global development, and
academic sectors that have joined forces to advance public understanding of how
social media can best be utilized to better understand and increase the health
and resiliency of communities around the world. The Alliance is
excited to launch a request for proposals (RFP) for research supported by the
Vaccine Confidence Fund (“the Fund”). Facebook and Merck & Co., Inc. are
financially sponsoring the Fund. Other Alliance members will be
serving on the Advisory Council.
Areas of Interest
The Fund is seeking proposals that address this
primary research question:
- How can social media be best
utilized to better understand and increase vaccination confidence and
uptake?
- They highly encourage
applicants – especially from interdisciplinary teams and cross-sectoral
partnerships – to develop truly transformative proposals that address
critical research gaps with creative solutions. They also invite
applicants to develop their own ideas that align with the Fund’s primary
research question and principles. Research proposals should include the
following: a well-defined problem statement that articulates a key
research gap and/or specifies a focus population (making it clear why
this research is novel and how it will add to the current body of
understanding); a proposed research methodology and approach (ideally
using interdisciplinary methods); and a measurement framework that
outlines clear measures and their intended plans for capturing data
Funding Information
The range of awards will vary based on the scope
of the research, but award amounts will range between $100,000 and $250,000,
with the expectation that some awards could exceed this ceiling.
Expectations of
Grantees
- Participate in kick-off call
with Fund manager.
- Submit a mid-term progress
report and final report via a grant management platform. Reporting will be
lightweight but meaningful and focus on reviewing anticipated versus
actual outcomes, metrics, and milestones as submitted in the approved
proposal.
- Attend at least two virtual
meetings and phone calls to provide status updates on research progress.
Specific dates for reviews will be communicated at the time of award and
based on the proposed research plan’s timeline.
- Submit a plan of dissemination
to share the results/findings.
Eligibility Criteria
- Research that takes place in
any country is eligible. The goal of the RFP is to ensure diversity of
research globally – in both high-income and low-income countries.
- The Alliance for Advancing
Health Online is focused on advancing public understanding of how social
media can best be utilized to better understand and increase the health
and resiliency of communities around the world. The Alliance’s first
activity is to launch the Vaccine Confidence Fund.
- Alliance members currently
include the Bay Area Global Health Alliance, the CDC Foundation, Facebook,
the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, MSD (known as Merck in the US
and Canada), Sabin Vaccine Institute, the Vaccine Confidence Project at
the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the World Bank and the
World Health Organization. Further discussions with other key relevant
institutions are currently ongoing with the goal of expanding the Alliance
membership.
- Some representatives from the
Alliance may also participate on the Advisory Council
Selection Criteria
- Content
- Importance: Does the proposal
contain a coherent and compelling problem statement?
- Alignment: Do the proposal’s
research question(s) and research methods align with the Fund’s primary
research question?
- Equity: Does the proposal aim
to support focus communities, or address underlying drivers of
disparities, especially in trying to achieve health equity?
- Experience: Does the proposed
research team have a proven track record of expertise in the proposed
fields of study?
- Approach
- Feasibility: Are the proposed research
methods technically and methodologically feasible given time and cost
constraints? Do the proposed research methods adequately and
appropriately consider privacy, i.e., do the methods design for user
consent?
- Novelty: Is the proposed line
of inquiry novel and does it have the potential to fill an important
knowledge gap?
- Engagement: Does the proposed
research incorporate engagement with the focus communities before,
during, and after the research?
- Urgency: Does the approach
reflect the immediate circumstances of the community? Are there any risks
that those circumstances may change in the immediate future?
- Collaborative partnerships:
Does the proposed research team reflect interdisciplinary areas of
expertise? Does the proposed research team pursue partnerships across
sectors/disciplines to generate bold and innovative solutions?
- Applicability: Can the
anticipated research results be used to shape and inform practical public
health and technology interventions in the short-term? How can the
results of this research be applied in communities beyond those studied?
- Measurement
- Impact: Does this proposal
articulate clear measures and their pathway to immediate or potential
impact (i.e., vaccine uptake)? If impact data is not available (due to
the project timeline), are there interim results that can be tracked?
- Budget
- Budget: Does the proposal
include a budget and clear justification for key budget items?
Post Date - 11-Jun-2021