Vaccine calculations among diaspora populations: evidence from South Sudanese communities in Canada

This brief explores understandings, and experiences of COVID-19 vaccines among South Sudanese diaspora members living across Canada. Members of this community, along with other members of African diaspora populations globally, have been considered to be vaccine ‘hesitant’. By contrast, we find that many South Sudanese Canadians have accepted a vaccine. Yet, this has not been linked to the formation of trust with the healthcare system or the government. Rather, fears of vaccine side-effects persisted, and many considered their decision-making compromised. This brief places sentiments in the context of adverse experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have fostered trust in diaspora networks, maintained both virtually and physically, where vaccine misinformation has circulated.