Social media study of public opinions on potential COVID-19 vaccines: informing dissent, disparities, and dissemination

Lyu, Hanjia; Wang, Junda; Wu, Wei; Duong, Viet; Zhang, Xiyang; Dye, Timothy D.; Luo, Jiebo

doi:10.1016/j.imed.2021.08.001

Cited by 47 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The reason why we chose these 2 attributes is that account age can reflect the internet age of a user, and follower number can indicate a user’s influence and usage level of social media to a certain extent. Additionally, Lyu et al [ 31 ] studied the characterization of population groups with varied attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and concluded that account age and follower number also have an influence on population attitudes toward vaccines. The account age of a user was calculated by subtracting the user’s creation time from the tweet’s creation time, and the follower number was retrieved directly from the “stats” field of the tweet object.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution and Disparities of Online Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccines: Year-long Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Study

Zhang¹,

Li²,

Liu³

et al. 2022

J Med Internet Res

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Background Due to the urgency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, vaccine manufacturers have to shorten and parallel the development steps to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine production. Although all usual safety and efficacy monitoring mechanisms remain in place, varied attitudes toward the new vaccines have arisen among different population groups. Objective This study aimed to discern the evolution and disparities of attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines among various population groups through the study of large-scale tweets spanning over a whole year. Methods We collected over 1.4 billion tweets from June 2020 to July 2021, which cover some critical phases concerning the development and inoculation of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide. We first developed a data mining model that incorporates a series of deep learning algorithms for inferring a range of individual characteristics, both in reality and in cyberspace, as well as sentiments and emotions expressed in tweets. We further conducted an observational study, including an overall analysis, a longitudinal study, and a cross-sectional study, to collectively explore the attitudes of major population groups. Results Our study derived 3 main findings. First, the whole population’s attentiveness toward vaccines was strongly correlated (Pearson r=0.9512) with official COVID-19 statistics, including confirmed cases and deaths. Such attentiveness was also noticeably influenced by major vaccine-related events. Second, after the beginning of large-scale vaccine inoculation, the sentiments of all population groups stabilized, followed by a considerably pessimistic trend after June 2021. Third, attitude disparities toward vaccines existed among population groups defined by 8 different demographic characteristics. By crossing the 2 dimensions of attitude, we found that among population groups carrying low sentiments, some had high attentiveness ratios, such as males and individuals aged ≥40 years, while some had low attentiveness ratios, such as individuals aged ≤18 years, those with occupations of the 3rd category, those with account age <5 years, and those with follower number <500. These findings can be used as a guide in deciding who should be given more attention and what kinds of help to give to alleviate the concerns about vaccines. Conclusions This study tracked the year-long evolution of attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines among various population groups defined by 8 demographic characteristics, through which significant disparities in attitudes along multiple dimensions were revealed. According to these findings, it is suggested that governments and public health organizations should provide targeted interventions to address different concerns, especially among males, older people, and other individuals with low levels of education, low awareness of news, low income, and light use of social media. Moreover, public health authorities may consider cooperating with Twitter users having high levels of social influence to promote the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines among all population groups.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution and Disparities of Online Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccines: Year-long Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Study

Zhang¹,

Li²,

Liu³

et al. 2022

J Med Internet Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Lastly, regardless of the setup of the county mass sites and FEMA site prioritizing accessibility for populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic, there is still disparity in vaccination rate among populations and communities. Our study only focused on accessibility to vaccine resources and did not consider one major factor that influences vaccination rates, which is vaccine acceptance/hesitancy ( 36 – 39 ). More in-depth studies on this front could provide valuable insights to innovative solutions in mass vaccination campaigns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating spatial accessibility to COVID-19 vaccine resources in diversely populated counties in the United States

Feng

Barragán

Rodriguez

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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This study examines the accessibility to COVID-19 vaccination resources in two counties surrounding Newark, NJ in the New York Metropolitan Area, United States. The study area represents diverse population makeups. COVID-19 vaccines were made available by different types of vaccination sites including county mass vaccination sites, medical facilities and pharmacies, and a FEMA community vaccination center in spring 2021. We used the two-step floating catchment area method to measure accessibility and calculated the average accessibility scores of different population groups. We examined the patterns and tested the significance of the differences in accessibility across population groups. The results showed clear spatial heterogeneity in the accessibility to vaccine resources with the existing infrastructure (medical/pharmacy vaccine sites). Accessibility patterns changed with the introduction of county mass sites and the FEMA community site. The county mass vaccination sites in one county greatly increased accessibilities for populations of minority and poverty. The FEMA community site in the other county accomplished the same. Both the local health department and the federal government played an important role in mitigating pre-existing inequalities during the vaccination campaign. Our study shows that social determinants of health need to be addressed and taken into explicit consideration when planning resource distribution during the pandemic.

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“…We hope that our findings will encourage the deployment of other mobile facilities, employing similar infection control measures to minimize the risk to patients and healthcare workers within the mobile facility. We further hope that the Smart Pod will allow for easier access and a novel approach to COVID-19 vaccine delivery, especially in underserved communities with higher rates of vaccine hesitancy [50].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Community-Based Management of COVID-19 in a Mobile Container Unit

et al. 2021

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Vaccine uptake is a multifactor measure of successful immunization outcomes that includes access to healthcare and vaccine hesitancy for both healthcare workers and communities. The present coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the need for novel strategies to expand vaccine coverage in underserved regions. Mobile clinics hold the promise of ameliorating such inequities, although there is a paucity of studies that validate environmental infection in such facilities. Here, we describe community-based management of COVID-19 through a Smart Pod mobile clinic deployed in an underserved community area in the United States (Aldine, Harris County, TX, USA). In particular, we validate infection control and biological decontamination of the Smart Pod by testing surfaces and the air-filtration system for the COVID-19 virus and bacterial pathogens. We show the Smart Pod to be efficacious in providing a safe clinical environment for vaccine delivery. Moreover, in the Smart Pod, up-to-date education of community healthcare workers was provided to reduce vaccine hesitancy and improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake. The proposed solution has the potential to augment existing hospital capacity and combat the COVID-19 pandemic locally and globally.

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Social media study of public opinions on potential COVID-19 vaccines: informing dissent, disparities, and dissemination

Cited by 47 publications

References 36 publications

The Evolution and Disparities of Online Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccines: Year-long Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Study

The Evolution and Disparities of Online Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccines: Year-long Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Study

Evaluating spatial accessibility to COVID-19 vaccine resources in diversely populated counties in the United States

A Community-Based Management of COVID-19 in a Mobile Container Unit

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