Trusting a Covid-19 Vaccine: What’s Next?

With continuing high numbers of Covid-19 cases and associated deaths across the United States, the rollout of novel coronavirus vaccines offers hope for moving beyond the worst effects of the pandemic. But even as new products are approved and supply accelerates, large portions of the American public are still hesitant about taking Covid-19 vaccines. The Biden Administration has initiated important efforts to restore community trust, through outreach to minority communities and outlining a comprehensive plan in the National Strategy for the Covid-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness. But what further opportunities are there to enhance executive branch action and coordination to boost public confidence in vaccines beyond the Covid-19 pandemic?

Please join the CSIS-LSHTM High-Level Panel on Vaccine Confidence and Misinformation on Friday, April 9, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT for the fourth in a series of conversations about building trust in Covid-19 vaccines in the United States. Katherine E. Bliss, Senior Fellow and Project Director for the CSIS-LSHTM High-Level Panel, will provide opening remarks. J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, will then moderate a panel discussion on the federal reforms needed to strengthen confidence in vaccines, including Covid-19 vaccines, in the United States. This expert panel will feature Bruce Gellin, President of Global Immunization at the Sabin Vaccine Institute; Margaret “Peggy” Hamburg, former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Interim Vice President of Global Biological Policy and Programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative; Juliette Kayyem, Senior Belfer Lecturer in International Security at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government; Heidi J. Larson, Professor of Anthropology, Risk, and Decision Science, and Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project™ at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; and Julia Spencer, Associate Vice President of Global Vaccines Public Policy, Partnerships, and Government Affairs at Merck & Co., Inc.

The panel’s work is supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation.