Evolution of Public Attitudes and Opinions Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination During the Vaccine Campaign in China: Year-Long Infodemiology Study of Weibo Posts

Abstract

Background Monitoring people’s perspectives on the COVID-19 vaccine is crucial for understanding public vaccination hesitancy and developing effective, targeted vaccine promotion strategies. Although this is widely recognized, studies on the evolution of public opinion over the course of an actual vaccination campaign are rare. Objective We aimed to track the evolution of public opinion and sentiment toward COVID-19 vaccines in online discussions over an entire vaccination campaign. Moreover, we aimed to reveal the pattern of gender differences in attitudes and perceptions toward vaccination. Methods We collected COVID-19 vaccine–related posts by the general public that appeared on Sina Weibo from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021; this period covered the entire vaccination process in China. We identified popular discussion topics using latent Dirichlet allocation. We further examined changes in public sentiment and topics during the 3 stages of the vaccination timeline. Gender differences in perceptions toward vaccination were also investigated. Results Of 495,229 crawled posts, 96,145 original posts from individual accounts were included. Most posts presented positive sentiments (positive: 65,981/96,145, 68.63%; negative: 23,184/96,145, 24.11%; neutral: 6980/96,145, 7.26%). The average sentiment scores were 0.75 (SD 0.35) for men and 0.67 (SD 0.37) for women. The overall trends in sentiment scores showed a mixed response to the number of new cases and significant events related to vaccine development and important holidays. The sentiment scores showed a weak correlation with new case numbers (R=0.296; P=.03). Significant sentiment score differences were observed between men and women (P<.001). Common and distinguishing characteristics were found among frequently discussed topics during the different stages, with significant differences in topic distribution between men and women (January 1, 2021, to March 31, 2021: χ23=3030.9; April 1, 2021, to September 30, 2021: χ24=8893.8; October 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021: χ25=3019.5; P<.001). Women were more concerned with side effects and vaccine effectiveness. In contrast, men reported broader concerns around the global pandemic, the progress of vaccine development, and economics affected by the pandemic. Conclusions Understanding public concerns regarding vaccination is essential for reaching vaccine-induced herd immunity. This study tracked the year-long evolution of attitudes and opinions on COVID-19 vaccines according to the different stages of vaccination in China. These findings provide timely information that will enable the government to understand the reasons for low vaccine uptake and promote COVID-19 vaccination nationwide.

Impact of vaccination and non-pharmacological interventions on COVID-19: a review of simulation modeling studies in Asia

“…Among children and their caregivers, common reasons for fear and hesitancy to receive a vaccine include assumptions that the vaccine has side effects and may not be safe ( 18 ). Adults may also be complacent that the COVID-19 situation is no longer severe, and/or a negative perception of the vaccine, government, and/or pharmaceutical company may discourage them from receiving initial vaccination and/or boosters ( 17 , 18 ). General fatigue over the topics of COVID-19 and vaccines and a wider circulation of misinformation on vaccines may contribute to these attitudes ( 127 ).…”

“…Individuals at risk of infection and/or severe disease were targeted, namely, front-line healthcare workers and older adults, the latter group being at particular risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19, compared with younger age groups (6,15,16). As supplies have stabilized, campaigns to vaccinate the wider public have faced challenges in the form of hesitancy among certain populations to receive initial doses of the vaccine and/or subsequent boosters (17,18). Additionally, from 2022, the progression from a prevalent Delta to Omicron variant has shifted the burden of disease to younger people, including pediatric patients in Asia (19)(20)(21).…”