What can Public and Global Health learn from the COVID-19 vaccination campaign? A discussion with Prof. Heike Klüver (Principal Investigator, Cluster of Excellence "SCRIPTS"), Dr. Katrin Schmelz (Postdoctoral Researcher, Cluster of Excellence "Politics of Inequality", Universität Konstanz), Dr. Martin Bergfelder (Head of Corona Taskforce, Federal Foreign Office Germany), and Prof. Mujaheed Shaikh (Professor of Health Governance, Hertie School). Moderation: Julia Vismann, science journalist.

Comprehensive vaccination is seen as the most important measure for containing the Covid-19 pandemic. The majority of governmental leaders as well as scientists seem to agree that policies of direct enforcement stand in contradiction to or at least challenge certain principles of liberal societies. In light of a slowdown or even a stagnation of the vaccination rate, the question arises which kind of policies are best suited to spur the vaccination uptake in order to reach a herd-immunity target.

What can be said at this point  about the group of unvaccinated people in Germany? Which strategies are most effective in increasing the willingness to be vaccinated? What is the relation between enforcement, public trust and vaccine acceptance?

On a broader level, what could be the learnings for global health about strengthening citizen compliance? In light of these findings and recent trends, which shape should the vaccination campaigns take for the remainder of the pandemic – not only in Germany but on the level of international cooperation?

Researchers of the Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script – SCRIPTS”, the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality” as well as Public and Global Health experts from medicinal research, governmental institutions such as the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) and/or international organizations discuss these and other questions. The aim is to foster an interdisciplinary knowledge exchange between theory and practice, between science, public administration and society.