Background The COVID-19 pandemic has quickly spread around the world, and since currently no treatments that are safe and effective for large groups of people nor a vaccine are available, the best way to prevent the illness is to avoid being exposed to the virus causing it. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive effects of both demographic and psychosocial factors originating with the Health Belief Model on reported intent to adhere to COVID-19 preventive behaviors (e.g., social distancing, hand washing, and not attending large gatherings). Method A Qualtrics survey of 500 U.S. adults was conducted to explore the relationships of demographics and psychosocial factors with the intent to adhere to COVID-19 preventive measures. Results Gender was a predictor of taking preventive action, with women more likely to take action. Health Belief Model constructs predicted uptake of most COVID-19 preventive actions, but the constructs often appeared to work independent of the model. Race/ethnicity was an infrequent predictor, but when it did, minorities were less likely to report intent to adhere to COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Conclusion/Implications While not a perfect model for this pandemic, the Health Belief Model and its constructs should continue to be considered for use by public health communicators focusing on preventive measure campaign design in both the COVID-19 pandemic era and beyond.

Background Public health experts estimate that only very high COVID-19 vaccine uptake levels can result in herd immunity. Objective This study’s main objective was to evaluate the impact of vaccine price levels, including payments, and the efficacy levels on COVID-19 vaccine demand. Methods Data for this study were collected from an online survey of 2000 US individuals aged 18 years and older, which included a set of contingent valuation questions. Parametric and nonparametric procedures were used to estimate the distribution of willingness-to-pay and willingness-to-accept values for the vaccine and to assess its association with vaccine efficacy levels (50, 70, and 95%). Results Most of the individuals (60%) indicated they were willing to pay a positive amount for the vaccine; 13.7% said they would only accept the vaccine if it were free; 14.1% were willing to take the vaccine only if they were paid; and 12.2% were not willing to accept the vaccine. The vaccine efficacy level was found to affect an individual’s demand for the vaccine. Estimated mean willingness-to-pay values were: US$594, US$706, and US$723 for vaccines with efficacy levels of 50, 70, and 95%, respectively. Conclusions US individuals highly value the COVID-19 vaccine, and about 88% of the US population would accept the vaccination; however, 14% indicated they would get vaccinated if compensated. Payments of about US$500 or more would be needed to sufficiently incentivize 50% or more of this group vaccinated.

In early 2020, President Jair Bolsonaro had completed his first year of office. His election, in October 2018, marked a rightward political shift after 14 years of government by the left-wing Workers' Party (PT). The PT had been in power since 2003 with Lula da Silva for two terms and then Dilma Rousseff elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. In 2016, amidst corruption scandals, the Brazilian Senate impeached Rousseff for moving funds between government budgets. Rousseff denied having done anything illegal and argued that this was a common practice amongst her predecessors. 1 At the time of his election, Bolsonaro had been in permanent campaign for at least three years ( Joathan & Rebouças, 2020), presenting himself as an anti-PT candidate and advocate of Christian values. Although he had worked as a federal legislator since 1991, he was also portrayed as being anti-establishment. Gaining strength due to Brazil's political turmoil, Bolsonaro, a former army captain, managed to gather support from inf luential actors, such as the military, the Evangelical churches, the economic elites, and politicians aligned with a neoliberal agenda. He beat the PT candidate Fernando Haddad in the second round of the elections with 55.1% of valid votes.The PT's original plan was to name Lula as a presidential candidate, but the Superior Electoral Court disqualified him under Brazil's Clean Slate Law. Ironically, three days after winning the election, Bolsonaro appointed Sergio Moro, the judge who helped arrest Lula for corruption charges, to his Justice Ministry. Since then, the president remains true to his confrontational style. In this context of ideological disputes, Brazil confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in February 2020. This chapter draws from quantitative and qualitative content analyses to address issues of governance and rhetoric during the coronavirus crises.Brazil 221 ChronologyTable 19.1 presents a summary of the dissemination of COVID-19 in Brazil and the main measures taken by the federal government between February and August 2020. AnalysisThis chapter draws from quantitative and qualitative content analyses of posts published on the Facebook pages of Brazil's Federal Government (@palaciodoplanalto) (n = 237) and Favela do Alemão's Crisis Committee page (@gabinetealemao) (n = 52). For both, we have collected posts published between February 26 and June 25. We chose Facebook because Brazilian users account to 120 million people (second only to YouTube in popularity). 2 The Planalto page represents the government's official voice, allowing citizens to follow government-led actions, projects and the president's everyday life. The @gabinetealemao page was created to report the activities of the Crisis Committee, which had been established in March by three collectives from Favela do Alemão: Coletivo Papo Reto, Voz das Comunidades and Mulheres em Ação no Alemão. We also draw from inside information from Thainã de Medeiros, one of the founders of Coletivo Papo Reto.The Crisis Committee tapped into the collectives...

Influenza epidemics happen every year, with more than 8 million severe cases in 2017. The most effective way to prevent seasonal influenza is vaccination. In recent years, misinformation regarding vaccines abounds on social media, but the flu vaccine is relatively understudied in this area, and the current study is the first 1 to explore the content and nature of influenza information that is shared on Twitter, comparing tweets published in the early flu season with those posted in peak flu season. Using a quantitative content analysis, 1000 tweets from both parts of the flu season were analyzed for use of Health Belief Model (HBM) variables, engagement, and flu vaccine specific variables. Findings show several promising opportunities for health organizations and professionals: HBM constructs were present more frequently than in previous, related studies, and fewer vaccine-hesitant tweets appear to be present. However, the presence of high barriers to flu vaccine uptake increased significantly from early to peak season, including an increase in the mention of conspiracy theories. Flu vaccine related tweets appear to vary in misinformation level and density throughout the flu season. While this should be confirmed by further studies over multiple flu seasons, this a finding that should be considered by public health organizations when developing flu vaccine campaigns on social media.

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