CANDOUR

Covid-19 vAccine prefereNce anD Opinion sURvey

Brief Description of Research

A key strategy for ending the COVID-19 pandemic will be an effective vaccine. Clinical trials are underway for the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, and there are 100 other vaccines at various stages of development. While enormous research effort and resources have been put into vaccine development, there is currently no evidence-based framework for the allocation of a vaccine to both maximise outcomes and ensure an equitable distribution. If the results of one or more trials indicate that a vaccine offers protection against COVID-19, governments will have to make immediate decisions on how to allocate available supplies. In many countries, these will not be sufficient for universal vaccination, and so choices will need to be made as to which groups are prioritised to receive a vaccine.

It will be essential both ethically and politically that the vaccine allocation receives public input on which different types of needs should be prioritised (e.g. essential workers versus those at highest risk of dying of COVID-19). The CANDOUR project will conduct national representative surveys in twelve countries in anticipation of trial results being published later this year. It will be used to help develop a fair and efficient allocation mechanism to facilitate vaccine prioritisation.

The team of scholars participating in this global project, and described below, have stellar international reputations for the design and implementation of studies concerning public health attitudes and behaviour. They also have been on the forefront of theoretical modelling and econometric estimation methods that will be essential for the success of this project.

The Project Team

The Principal Investigator on The Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Policy project is Professor Philip Clarke. The current team of scholars collaborating on the project include the following: