THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION MESSAGES ABOUT COVID-19 ON THE RATE OF POPULATION VACCINATION

Abstract

Significance. One of the understudied areas in shaping the attitude of the population towards vaccination is the impact of the content and intensity of information dissemination about vaccination via the Internet and traditional mass media. Analyzing the mass media impact in the situation of pandemics is especially relevant. The purpose of the study: to assess the impact of COVID-related information messages on the rate of population vaccination and determine specific features of the effective content. Material and methods. The material for the analysis was statistical data on the number and topic of information messages identified by online search queries in the monitoring and analysis system of mass media and social networks for the period from April 01, 2019 to April 13, 2022, the analysis of which was carried out on the basis of mathematical and linguistic analysis of texts of 81,000 open media sources. As well as information on the incidence and rate of vaccination available from the official website стопкоронавирус.рф for the same time period. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out by the method of hierarchical cluster analysis with the creation of dendrogram in the statistical package SPSS 22.00; by the method of correlation analysis with the calculation of the two-sided Pearson coefficient; during the result interpretation, only correlations at the significance level p<0.01 and the value of the correlation coefficient above 0.5 were taken into account. Results. The study shows that the parameters of vaccination considered in the article are hardly affected by the variables forming the “Neutrality Factor” cluster, and also allowed us to make a number of assumptions: the number of vaccinated is directly dependent upon the mortality rate and the volume of negative information in the media; the monthly increase in the number of vaccinated is directly related to the number of media reports with quotes from leading experts and references to statistical data, and is negatively associated with the proportion of neutral messages on the topic of the pandemic. Conclusion. The presented results made it possible to formulate priority directions for enhancing commitment of the Russian population to vaccination, increasing public confidence in vaccines, as well as directions to dramatically increase the rate of vaccination in extreme pandemic situations through intensification of the information and propaganda impact on the population. Moreover, according to the study results, such an impact, in order to be effective, must meet certain criteria. Scope of application. The study results can be used by executive authorities responsible for preserving the life and health of the citizens.