COVID-19 Vaccine Selfie: A Modest Endeavor to Increase Vaccine Acceptance (original) (raw)
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Unmasking COVID-19 Vaccine "Infodemic" in the Social Media
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 2021
The activities of the anti-vaccine crusaders and conspiracy theorists on social media platforms have influenced billions of people across the globe on the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines currently been used for immunizations. The increased social media mis/disinformation on the efficacies and safety of these vaccines developed have raised a global concern among all stakeholders. This study adopted a convenience sampling through an online survey to collect data from N=1800 participants (students) from five (5) public universities in Accra the national capital of Ghana, which is also the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine their perceptions on the overabundance COVID-19 pandemic information on social media and how these pieces information consumption impacts their trust/mistrust/distrust in the COVID-19 vaccines. The findings of our study indicate that there exist vital levels of COVID-19 vaccines "infodemic" on social media and these overabundances of COVID-19 vaccine information on social media has caused great levels of fear and panic among the students and the public. We also found that, the high exposure to COVID-19 vaccine information on social media are associated with negative perceptions and higher levels of mistrust/distrust among the population. This study recommends that stakeholders such as WHO, policymakers, and accredited health institutions must embark on public health communication campaigns to educate the public on the credible sources of COVID-19 pandemic information on social media.
Vaccines, 2021
This study aims to understand public discussions regarding COVID-19 vaccine on Parler, a newer social media platform that recently gained in popularity. Through analyzing a random sample (n = 400) of Parler posts using the hashtags #COVID19Vaccine and #NoCovidVaccine, we use the concept of echo chambers to understand usersʹ discussions through a text analytics approach. Thematic analysis reveals five key themes: reasons to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine (40%), side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine (28%), population control through the COVID-19 vaccine (23%), children getting vaccinated without parental consent (5%), and comparison of other health issues with COVID-19 (2%). Textual analysis shows that the most frequently used words in the corpus were: nocovidvaccine (348); vaccine (264); covid (184); covid19 (157); and vaccines (128). These findings suggest that users adopted different terms and hashtags to express their beliefs regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Further, findings revealed that users used certain hashtags such as "echo" to encourage like-minded people to reinforce their existing beliefs on COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and vaccine acceptance. These findings have implications for public health communication in attempts to correct false narratives on social media platforms. Through widely sharing the scientific findings of COVID-19 vaccine-related studies can help individuals understand the COVID-19 vaccines efficacy accurately.
Infodemic on Social Media and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy
Journal of Medical Globalization, 2022
This study aims to understand the current COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy context and measures to overcome it. Assessing the challenge faced by campaigns against the vaccination on social media is vital, considering the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, though there has been substantial advancement in vaccines over the last century, the re-emergence of vaccine-preventable infections has prompted the World Health Organization to recognize vaccine hesitancy as a significant challenge to public health. The strategies among the general public for the hesitancy to use any vaccines for the initial period might well be fueled by health information gathered from a range of outlets, especially social media. This is a significant public health issue and may compromise people into not using the vaccines. Therefore, there is a strong need for social media to control that false plethora of information and promote the message from internationally recognized and trusted organizations and the government bodies of respective countries. This study explores infodemic in social media and its impact on utilizing the COVID-19 vaccine. This review results can benefit further public health interventions related to vaccine utilization.
Hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines on social media in Canada
Vaccine, 2022
To effectively end the pandemic, the acceptance of effective vaccines against COVID-19 is critical. Comments posted in online platforms act as a barometer for understanding public concerns regarding vaccination and can be used to inform communication strategies for the 'moveable middle'. The aim of this exploratory study was to identify online dialogue regarding the nature of vaccine hesitancy related to COVID-19 vaccine(s). We analyzed user comment threads in response to news reports regarding COVID-19 vaccines on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation national news website (with as many as 9.4 million unique visitors per day). User comments (n = 1145) were extracted from 19 articles between March 2020 and June 15th, 2020. Comments were then coded inductively for content to establish a coding framework that was subsequently applied to the dataset. Our data provide empirical support for misrepresentation as a form of misinformation and further demonstrate the utility of social media content as data for social research that informs public health communication materials. The data point to the need for, and value of, rapid communication interventions to foster vaccine acceptance. False information will continue to create challenges for delivering COVID-19 vaccines. Communication strategies to get ahead of the pace of misinformation are critical, particularly in light of boosters and the possibility of COVID-19 vaccination on an annual basis.
2021
Background: The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has brought vaccine hesitancy to the forefront in managing this pandemic. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is fundamentally different from that of other vaccines due to the new technologies being used, rapid development, and widespread global distribution. Attitudes on vaccines are largely driven by online information, particularly information on social media. The first step toward influencing attitudes about immunization is understanding the current patterns of communication that characterize the immunization debate on social media platforms. Objective: We aimed to evaluate societal attitudes, communication trends, and barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake through social media content analysis to inform communication strategies promoting vaccine acceptance. Methods: Social network analysis (SNA) and unsupervised machine learning were used to characterize COVID-19 vaccine content on Twitter globally. Tweets published in English and French were collected through the Twitter application programming interface between November 19 and 26, 2020, just following the announcement of initial COVID-19 vaccine trials. SNA was used to identify social media clusters expressing mistrustful opinions on COVID-19 vaccination. Based on the SNA results, an unsupervised machine learning approach to natural language processing using a sentence-level algorithm transfer function to detect semantic textual similarity was performed in order to identify the main themes of vaccine hesitancy. Results: The tweets (n=636,516) identified that the main themes driving the vaccine hesitancy conversation were concerns of safety, efficacy, and freedom, and mistrust in institutions (either the government or multinational corporations). A main theme was the safety and efficacy of mRNA technology and side effects. The conversation around efficacy was that vaccines were unlikely to completely rid the population of COVID-19, polymerase chain reaction testing is flawed, and there is no indication of long-term T-cell immunity for COVID-19. Nearly one-third (45,628/146,191, 31.2%) of the conversations on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy clusters expressed concerns for freedom or mistrust of institutions (either the government or multinational corporations) and nearly a quarter (34,756/146,191, 23.8%) expressed criticism toward the government's handling of the pandemic.
New Trends in Qualitative Research
Vaccines are considered one of the most important public health advancements of the modern age and the most cost-effective preventive method of curbing the spread of several diseases with high morbidity and lethality. However, vaccination coverage rates around the world have been threatened by the vaccine hesitancy phenomenon, considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the ten greatest menaces to public health in the world. Vaccine opposition is a mentality driven by various interests, as old as the vaccine itself, predominantly using the media and social networks, which have an enormous influence on people. They often spread false information about vaccines, frequently with no adequate scientific backing, negatively impacting vaccination rates. To understand the possible correlation between the information spread on social media and childhood vaccination rates, we performed a narrative review on the subject, with a qualitative approach, in original or review articl...
Polio vaccine misinformation on social media: challenges, efforts, and recommendations
Journal of Science Communication, 2024
On April 22, 2019, false rumors regarding the side effects of the polio vaccine quickly spread across various social media platforms, including Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), WhatsApp, and YouTube. This rapid spread of misinformation had a detrimental impact on Pakistan's efforts to eradicate polio. This essay sheds lights on two critical aspects related to polio vaccine misinformation on social media in Pakistan. First, it examines the current state of polio vaccine misinformation on social media and finds it a significant threat to public health, resulting in vaccine refusals, erosion of trust in public health institutions, distrust in science, and providing opportunities for anti-vaccination groups and individual advocates to target healthcare workers involved in polio eradication efforts nationwide. Second, it highlights the collaborative initiatives undertaken by relevant government institutions and social media companies, which have proven inadequate in effectively addressing the persistent dissemination of mis/disinformation, particularly on Facebook. Lastly, we suggest Pakistan should adopt a more inclusive approach of engaging all stakeholders, promote independent fact-checking initiatives, and increase health literacy among the target population about the risks and benefits associated with the polio vaccine.
A comparison between online social media discussions and vaccination rates: A tale of four vaccines
DIGITAL HEALTH, 2023
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has brought the debate around vaccinations to the forefront of public discussion. In this discussion, various social media platforms have a key role. While this has long been recognized, the way by which the public assigns attention to such topics remains largely unknown. Furthermore, the question of whether there is a discrepancy between people's opinions as expressed online and their actual decision to vaccinate remains open. To shed light on this issue, in this paper we examine the dynamics of online debates among four prominent vaccines (i.e., COVID-19, Influenza, MMR, and HPV) through the lens of public attention as captured on Twitter in the United States from 2015 to 2021. We then compare this to actual vaccination rates from governmental reports, which we argue serve as a proxy for real-world vaccination behaviors. Our results demonstrate that since the outbreak of COVID-19, it has come to dominate the vaccination discussion, which has led to a redistribution of attention from the other three vaccination themes. The results also show an apparent discrepancy between the online debates and the actual vaccination rates. These findings are in line with existing theories, that of agenda-setting and zero-sum theory. Furthermore, our approach could be extended to assess the public's attention toward other health-related issues, and provide a basis for quantifying the effectiveness of health promotion policies.
Social Media and Health Communication: Vaccine Refusal/Hesitancy
Handbook of Research on Representing Health and Medicine in Modern Media
The content presented in the media, especially with the element of fear, appears to be the most important factor in the formation and spreading of phobias related to diseases. Especially when it comes to epidemics, the influence of the media increases remarkably. Individuals now use digital media as the initial reference source, especially on issues related to their health, and tend to see social media as a reference platform. However, uncontrolled information, conspiracy theories, and information pollution spread through social media make the subject difficult to understand; online shared manipulative news, excessive and unfounded information cause fear and panic. These posts about vaccines affect the perception and attitude towards vaccines. In this study, the comments and social media posts will be analysed using content analysis and discourse analysis methods in order to reveal the effect of social media in vaccine rejection and hesitation.