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Diversity Impact on Vaccine Equity in Sri Lanka

31 March 2022

This resource was produced by MRG’s partner(s) with MRG. It remains the property of the organization(s) in question and does not necessarily reflect the views of MRG.

Covid-19 has shed light on ongoing disparities in vaccine access and confidence among different ethnic groups worldwide. Against this backdrop, Verité Media conducted a two-part study on the impact of ethnicity on Covid-19 vaccine confidence, uptake and access among the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities in Sri Lanka. The study was conducted together with Minority Rights Group International as part of the Diversity Impact on Vaccine Equity (DIVE) programme (2021-2022). This report is the second and final part of the two-part study.

The first report published by Verité Media analyzed social media conversations on Covid-19 vaccine confidence, uptake and access in Sri Lanka from January 1 to October 31, 2021. The findings of this report were published in Diversity: Impact on Vaccine Equity (DIVE) in Sri Lanka (November 2021). This second report summarizes the main observations from conducting a face-to-face survey on Covid-19 vaccine confidence, uptake and access among different ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. The survey was conducted to triangulate the findings from the first report on analysing social media conversations. It was carried out from 16 December 2021 to 1 January 2022 among 2,476 respondents from 22 districts in Sri Lanka. This report highlights 10 key findings from the survey that relate to Covid-19 vaccine confidence, uptake and misinformation, as well as confidence in the authorities who were involved in the administration and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in Sri Lanka.

This report also details the online campaign that Verité Media conducted to counter misinformation and mistrust in the Covid-19 vaccine in Sri Lanka. The campaign strategy was based on the findings extracted from monitoring social media conversations and the face-to-face survey. The campaign also sought to promote vaccine confidence and uptake among groups that showed hesitancy in relation to obtaining the Covid-19 vaccine.

This content was published in the context of the programme ‘Diversity: Impact on Vaccine Equality’ (DIVE). Learn more >

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