Topics and Users' Emotions on Social Media Regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background and Aim: Since the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic prevailed globally, followed by the provision of its vaccine, social media users worldwide have come to discuss the issue and exchange views accordingly. It seems highly important to understand the nature of the content that users discussing the COVID-19 vaccination regarding the community's general health. Therefore, this systematic review was designed to evaluate the issues and emotions of users on social media regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.Material and Methods: The research data of this systematic review were extracted from the onset of the COVID-19 until November 20, 2021, by employing a proper search strategy in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. The original research articles published in English consistent with the study objective were considered the research inclusion criteria. The authors excluded all short articles, letters to the editor, conference proceeding, review articles, and papers whose full texts were not available.Results: The results revealed that most of the users' expressed emotions about the vaccine on social media were positive or neutral, and there were few negative emotions. The most frequent topics in posts and comments shared by social media users included safety and effectiveness, vaccine development and its speed, prevention policies, and health and political authorities.Conclusion: Nowadays, social media can help understand attitudes and behaviors during a public health crisis and promote health messages. Accordingly, it appears crucial to get aware of people's perspectives on social media platforms to assist in designing communication strategies for health policymakers.