Role of digital misinformation in analysing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

Abstract

Misinformation on the COVID-19 vaccine has been rampant on social media, which resulted in influencing and misguiding people about vaccine safety and its effectiveness. It became imperative to scrutinise the conversation on the social media platform, especially how 'Twitter' is reacting to the COVID-19 vaccine refusal or acceptance in the Indian landscape. This study is a pioneer in utilising a mixed-method approach of clubbing quantitative sentiment analysis technique followed by a qualitative content analysis. The themes that emerged from quantitative analysis of negative sentiments related to vaccination have been corroborated by qualitative responses of medical experts. The themes that emerged included three sub-clusters with 'willingness', 'risk perception', 'efficacy' and 'affordability' loaded on the first cluster, 'allocation' and 'prioritisation' on the second and 'outreach' as the third cluster. These findings will help the government and policymakers to take cognisance of the factors leading to hesitancy and adapt accordingly.