Born out of COVIDAction in 2020, the Vaccine Data CoLab’s work in data for decision-making across global partnerships and country-led challenges has highlighted the importance of data and actionable insights to address vaccine distribution, hesitancy, disinformation & trust, and systemic barriers to access.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of our global systems and the deep-seated inequities that exist in healthcare access worldwide. WHO estimates that 25 million children missed out on routine vaccination in 2021 alone , with the vast majority living in low- and middle-income countries. We have a unique opportunity not only to catch up on progress lost in routine immunisation but also to accelerate progress and make transformative strides towards a more equitable future.

Vaccine Data CoLab has taken the lessons learned from the pandemic and focused on country-led systems strengthening, starting with Nigeria, Uganda and Indonesia. Our vision is to strengthen hyperlocal data systems and co-create with local actors to enable data for decision making in their communities. We call this precision public health.

The Challenge: What is the role of hyperlocal data systems in driving decision makers to use data to design and deliver more targeted vaccine programmes?

Our Approach

We work as a CoLab: Collaboratively (Co) and Experimentally (Lab).

Our aim is to bring together partners and funders to create a long-term vision on country vaccine data & health systems strengthening.

We are:

Building national and global coalitions with a shared vision for change
Actioning ideas through a portfolio of catalytic grants
Providing behavioural innovation and data expertise
Sharing our learning with local and global networks

What’s next for Vaccine Data CoLab?

The Vaccine Data CoLab in this form ended in October 2023. We’d like to thank the Government, Non-Government, International Organisations, our country partners Dev Afrique in Nigeria and Infectious Disease Institute (Makerere University) in Uganda and others who have contributed to our learning so far. We know that Better Futures are realised when instead of building incrementally from today, we convene a group of experts, innovators, and funders and work collaboratively. These partners are the vital “Co” in the Vaccine Data CoLab.

We are passionate about strengthening health systems and data for decision making.

We’d love to know what you think about what we’ve learnt, and if you also see opportunities to continue the collaboration and spread and scale the approach to other countries and health topic.

If you work in the vaccine data ecosystem in any capacity, whether you’re based in Nigeria or Uganda or elsewhere, please do get in touch with us: vaccinedata@makingbetterfutures.org.

Our learning journey

Read the evidence and insights that we have gathered and generated during the Vaccine Data CoLab, with the first phase running for just over a year (Sept 2022 - Oct 2023).

Learn more