The Vaccine Confidence Fund on Oct. 14 selected 33 organizations to receive grants totaling more than $7 million for projects exploring how technology and social media can increase vaccine confidence.
Five details:
- The Vaccine Confidence Fund was launched in June by nonprofit Global Impact, Facebook and Merck.
- Nearly 300 projects were submitted to the Vaccine Confidence Fund, with many focusing on community engagement among historically marginalized communities.
- The Vaccine Confidence Fund awarded funding to 33 projects. Institutions receiving grants include Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Stanford (Calif.) University and the University of California in Berkeley.
- The selected projects will explore how natural language processing, chatbots, behavioral nudges and targeted influencers affect vaccine confidence.
- More than half the selected projects will analyze the relationship between social media and vaccine uptake.