COVID-19 Vaccine Communications on Instagram and Vaccine Uptake in Young Adults: A Content Assessment and Public Engagement Analysis

Abstract

In Canada, during the pandemic, young adults (18–29 year-olds) represented one of the least-vaccinated age groups against COVID-19. These low vaccination rates, and high infection rates, left young people vulnerable to severe infections and created a risk for transmission to immunocompromised populations. Given young adults’ unique characteristics, to encourage vaccination among this demographic, public health and government officials must adopt an audience-centred approach to communication. We sought to understand if the vaccine messages from 8 Canadian federal government Instagram accounts met the needs of young adults based two frameworks: Guiding Principles for Crisis Communication (compassion and empathy, conversational tone, transparency, clarity, call to action and correction of misinformation), and the 5C Model for Vaccine Hesitancy (confidence, complacency, constraints, collective responsibility, and risk calculation). Across 159 posts that mentioned COVID-19 vaccines, there was limited incorporation of best practices, suggesting the government’s communication strategy did not meet the needs of young people.