Relationships between social media usage, attitudes toward information on social media, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

Background

A low COVID-19 vaccination rate has been observed in some countries. Misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines is commonly available on social media. This study aims to conduct an empirical, in-depth analysis of the digital space, particularly misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines across social media, including socio-demographic factors on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. This provides opportunities to set policies to properly utilize social media in public health and vaccination.

Methods

A web-based questionnaire was administered to elicit responses from social media users ages 15 years and older. Data regarding the level of social media usage, attitudes toward information on social media, and COVID-19 vaccines were collected.

Results

A total of 2231 people completed the questionnaire. The majority of the participants were concerned about the negative consequences of taking COVID-19 vaccines, but they had more confidence in the aspects of vaccine safety, importance, and effectiveness. Social media is not considered a credible channel to disseminate information about COVID-19, its vaccination, and its consequences, with females expressing a higher level of distrust. People who are spending more time using social media tend not to believe in vaccination in terms of safety and importance.

Conclusions

Social media has played a negative role and led to vaccine hesitancy among the public, especially young people. Public health institutions should establish health education initiatives using both traditional and social media platforms to immunize the public against misinformation.