Cross national insights into pandemic preparedness from the iCARE study

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us much about the drivers of pandemic prevention behaviours, e.g., getting vaccinated, mask wearing, physical and social distancing. For example, women, younger individuals, and people living in rural areas, were less likely to get COVID-19 vaccines, whereas people who had previously received an influenza vaccine were more likely to get COVID-19 vaccines. In addition, vaccine hesitancy differed notably between countries, e.g., ranging from ∼10% (e.g., Brazil) to ∼50% (e.g., France). Though COVID-19 was a global pandemic, the policy responses to mobilise engagement in positive prevention behaviours varied considerably across countries, with many poorly adapted to account for the variability detailed above. Unsurprisingly, the disconnect between what populations needed and what they got has led to varying degrees of negative sentiments towards future pandemic measures. One of the key behavioural messages that came out of this was that public health interventions need to be aligned with the specific needs of certain populations. This presentation will summarize pandemic preparedness data that is currently being collected across 6 countries (Ireland, France, Italy, Canada, Australia, and Colombia) in the international COVID-19 Awareness, Responses and Evaluation (iCARE) Study (one of the largest behavioural pandemic data collection platforms in the world) to identify the factors that are associated with intentions to engage in future pandemic behaviours. This data will then be mapped onto well-established behavioural science theories and models to propose a series of inter- and intra-country interventions that should promote improved public preparedness should we need to re-engage them for future pandemics.