The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) has announced an initial $7.2 million commitment in support of the Mercury Project, an SSRC initiative aimed at addressing health mis- and disinformation and boosting COVID-19 vaccination rates.

Working in 17 countries, the first cohort of 12 teams will receive grants to better understand how health mis- and disinformation spreads, how to combat it, and how to build stronger information systems. Established in 2021, the Mercury Project has raised a total of $10.25 million from the Rockefeller Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to fund projects in the United States, Africa, Asia, and Latin America for up to three years.

Social and behavioral scientists from Bolivia, Brazil, Côte D’Ivoire, Ghana, Haiti, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, the United States, and Zimbabwe will provide evidence about what works—and what doesn’t—in specific places and for specific groups to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates, including what is feasible on the ground and has the potential to be cost-effective at scale. Each team will have access to findings from the other teams while exploring interventions such as conducting literacy training for secondary school students in partnership with local authorities to help students identify COVID misinformation, equipping trusted messengers with communication strategies to increase vaccination demand, and using social networks to share tailored, community-developed messaging to increase COVID vaccination demand.

“With COVID-19 prevalent and rapidly evolving everywhere, there is a pressing need to identify interventions with the potential to increase vaccination take-up. Vaccines are only effective if they become vaccinations; vaccines are a scientific marvel, but their potential is unfulfilled if they are left on the shelf,” said SSRC president Anna Harvey. “The large volume of high-quality proposals submitted to the Mercury Project underscores just how eager the social and behavioral science community is to evaluate interventions to increase vaccination demand and build healthier information environments.” 

For a complete list of grantees and descriptions of each project, see the SSRC website. 

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