Abstract
Background: In humanitarian crises, reliable and accurate information
about health, security and humanitarian aid can be a tool for survival.
At the same time existing social structures and information systems are
often disrupted, leading to uncertainty and challenges in interpreting
information including information that may guide individual public
health decisions, particularly as part of vaccination programmes. This
study aims to systematically explore the existing literature on these
dynamics. Methods: A scoping review [(1)](#ref-0001) was conducted
using the key themes: misinformation, infodemic, vaccine confidence and
trust with relevant synonyms and subheadings included to build the
search strategy. Initial searching was conducted through Medline (Ovid),
Embase (Ovid), Global Health (Ovid), PsycInfo (Ovid), Web of Science and
SCOPUS, and through handsearching reference lists. Articles were
screened and data extracted using Covidence software
[(2)](#ref-0002). A content analysis was used to elucidate common
and overlapping themes [(3)](#ref-0003). Findings: In total, 41
studies from 14 specific country contexts as well as four from regional
and global analyses met the inclusion criteria. The themes identified
were (1) the drivers of mistrust (2) the complexity of
misinformation and vaccine confidence and (3) equity and
programming with communities. Conclusion: The scoping review concluded
that trust is essential for vaccine confidence in crisis contexts.
However, trust is a complex process shaped by various factors including
historical injustices, political dynamics, power dynamics and
information. The synthesized evidence demonstrates the importance of
community-driven interventions, equitable vaccine distribution and
culturally sensitive communications strategies. A consistent finding was
that critical knowledge gaps remain about the interplay of trust,
information and vaccine confidence in crisis settings to support
humanitarian response.