Five findings on vaccine confidence

A NEW study released last Tuesday outlines the public discourse around vaccine confidence.

The research, conducted by the World Economic Forum and consumer and market insights analytics platform NetBase Quid, looked at publicly available content from social media platforms and blogs over a six-month period.

The five key findings are: > Protection top concern

The most compelling reason that people publicly identify for being vaccinated is the protection offered by the vaccine.

Protection is referenced at least five times as often as other words.

> Backlash for moral messaging

Messages that focus on a moral responsibility to get vaccinated, especially coming from visible public figures, can result in a sharp backlash.

> Personal gratitude

Responses to images and simple messages around gratitude received the most positive responses.

Positive communications from health professionals and social media influencers were more effective than those from other groups, particularly politicians.

> Low confidence and low trust

People expressing low vaccine confidence appear to align with two broad groups.

One group has low confidence in components of the vaccine system, such as the government or pharmaceutical companies.

The other has concerns about how the vaccine will affect their own personal health.

> Overall concern

People online rarely distinguish between the types of vaccines, but rather express general concerns that “the vaccine” doesn’t work or is not guaranteed to protect you from Covid-19.

The paper also outlines some of the key drivers of vaccine confidence that underpin these findings, such as trust in government and other institutions, whether people feel like their concerns are being listened to and properly valued, and the different ways that people weigh up the risks and benefits of being vaccinated.

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Vaccine Confidence Project director Heidi Larson, who advised on the research, says: “The challenge of low vaccine confidence is not new, though it is particularly pressing as governments struggle to contain Covid-19.

“Ultimately, this is a challenge that is going to be with us for the long haul.

“As this report shows, the general public can be highly effective at building vaccine confidence among their friends and family, so we can all play a part in listening to people who have concerns and helping address them.

“We need an all-of-society approach to protect ourselves and our communities against Covid19.

“The trust-building needed is beyond vaccines, but building vaccine confidence is an entry point to the many other layers of trust needed moving forward.”

NetBase Quid president and co-founder Bob Goodson says: “One of the unique things about the system we used to analyse this content is that we can deeply understand people’s emotional reactions to messages that they encounter on social media, and time and again, people react most positively to simple, positive messages about vaccination and negatively to being told what to do.”

World Economic Forum Health and Healthcare head Genya Dana comments: “It is important to come together and engage in dialogue to understand public health concerns.

“Vaccines represent one of the greatest public health advances in modern times.

“Their role in ending the Covid19 pandemic depends in large part on understanding how to meet people where they are, and listening to and responding to their questions.”