Communication Strategies to Combat COVID-19 Vaccines Hesitancy

Abstract

COVID-19 infectious disease resulted in a pandemic that has threatened millions of people in the world. It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), and it has created a global health crisis. Hence, the present study aimed at assessing communication strategies used by Ethiopian Public Health Institute and Ministry of Health to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, make analysis of vaccination messages, and hybrid media messages to label best practices of communication techniques to address vaccine hesitancy. To attain this objective, a qualitative research method was employed to analyze messages that were disseminated with the hybrid national and regional media and social media platforms. MOH and EPHI disseminated messages; ministers, prominent people, opinion leaders and activists’ speeches used as subjects of the study. COVID-19 vaccination messages were selected through purposive sampling method. The contents of messages regarding health communication were analyzed. The finding showed that building COVID-19 vaccine acceptance through effective communication is important to stop the spread of the virus. The participatory and presumptive style communications are the possible method to promote COVID-19 vaccination before it reaches on refusal stage. Moreover, the results revealed that communication strategies contributed to vaccine advocacy and vaccination campaign to improve vaccine acceptance. MOH and EPHI used the hybrid media to mold the unscientific information and the misinformation of the vaccine. In sum, using effective communication strategies is very important to create awareness about COVID-19 vaccines, and avoid vaccine hesitation to strength the public vaccines acceptability.

Improving COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Black Populations: A Systematic Review of Strategies

“…Consistent across several studies in our review was the emphasis on the need for engagement with trusted individuals within the community, such as faith leaders [35] or opinion leaders [47], to spearhead knowledge dissemination efforts. Recent reports accentuate the importance of building trust through community messengers, offering choice, providing social support, focusing on diversity in messaging, addressing misinformation, and providing tailored communication [26,49,52].…”

“…These findings are reflected in other nonexperimental studies as well, where targeted interventions were associated with increasing enrollment or vaccination counts [35,37,38,41,43]. Two studies where the conclusions may not be transferrable were the case of Hirshberg and colleagues' simulation [40] and Yemer and colleagues' [47] information campaign. A simulation based on an ideal scenario may not account for naturally occurring variances in human behavior.…”

“…A simulation based on an ideal scenario may not account for naturally occurring variances in human behavior. Additionally, while Yemer and colleagues [47] concluded that the use of various communication strategies contributed to greater vaccine advocacy and increased vaccine acceptance, they provide no true evaluation methods to support this finding. In studies with no control, it is also possible that other factors contributed to the increasing counts in vaccination intent or completion, such as simply having time to consider the vaccination or weigh options.…”

“…Communication and information pathways require consistent, transparent, tailored, and high-quality information that is clear and easy to understand [51]. For instance, [47] utilized translated SMS messages in addition to communications and workshops led by community leaders to align with these suggestions, contributing to increased vaccine acceptance in the community.…”

“…Two studies assessed the impact of guidance and counselling delivered with standardized COVID-19 vaccination discussion tools and visual illustration communication tools on the intention to take COVID-19 vaccines [40,44]. Approaches such as clinical education on facts and information on COVID-19 vaccines by experts, peer influencers, religious and faith leaders, stakeholders, and direct engagement with community members were reported in seven studies [35,37,38,[43][44][45]47]. Most of these strategies resulted in a substantial increase in participants' COVID-19 vaccine intention and uptake.…”