Pro-actively addressing the challenges for an effective uptake of COVID-19 vaccination in Belgium: a transdisciplinary approach

Tackling the current COVID-19 pandemic will require effective vaccines for individual protection and potential group immunity to reduce transmission. If vaccines are developed, Belgium will likely face challenges with COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Heightened antivaccination sentiments are proliferating around the world. These sentiments are related to 'post-truth' perceptions, i.e. increased skepticism towards science and authorities in general, as well as skepticism specifically towards vaccine safety and effectiveness. Emerging signs of escalating mistrust can be linked to such sentiments and perceptions, compounded with pandemic anxieties and incertitude ('insufficient knowledge') around scientific expertise and the politics of pandemic management. A strategy is urgently needed to guide Belgian public health authorities on how to promote vaccine acceptance among the population. This project aims to use an innovative hybrid monitoring tool to assess both on-line and onthe- ground vaccine sentiments qualitatively and quantitatively. Interventions that are responsive to the identified emerging vaccine concerns and controversies will be co-created with community and public health stakeholders and aim to place public health agencies in a position to pro-actively counteract vaccine hesitancy prior to COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in Belgium.