Analysis of International Public Emotional Responses Toward the COVID-19 Vaccine

Abstract

The pharmaceutical companies developing the COVID-19 vaccine and national governments continuously disseminate information regarding the vaccine’s effectiveness and vaccination status to reassure the public about vaccination. However, because interest in vaccines and vaccination status vary between the populations of different countries, it is likely that emotional responses toward vaccines also vary between countries. The current study analyzed and compared the emotions expressed by people in Japan, the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and India regarding the vaccine by analyzing tweets, on the basis of the Plutchik's wheel of emotions. In addition, a textual analysis was conducted using dependency analysis and burst detection to obtain information regarding positive changes in people’s feelings toward vaccines. Our approach was useful for clarifying the emotional responses of people in various countries regarding the vaccine, and informing approaches for positively changing people’s feelings about vaccines.