Communicating Effectively About Emergency Use Authorization and Vaccines in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Quinn, Sandra Crouse; Jamison, Amelia M.; Freimuth, Vicki S.

doi:10.2105/ajph.2020.306036

Cited by 50 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…In summary, our findings echo the call for restoring trust in the healthcare system, scientists, and biomedical industries and highlight the urgency to dispel misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines in social media 38 . Effective strategies are needed to improve trust in pharmaceutical companies and government regarding vaccine communication and encourage these entities to partner with sources already trusted by the public.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Vaccine acceptance among college students in South Carolina: Do information sources and trust in information make a difference?

Qiao

Friedman

Tam

et al. 2020

Preprint

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BackgroundTo control the COVID-19 pandemic, governments need to ensure a successful large-scale administration of COVID-19 vaccines when safe and efficacious vaccines become available. Vaccine acceptance could be a critical factor influencing vaccine uptake. Health information has been associated with vaccine acceptance. For college students who are embracing a digital era and being exposed to multimedia, the sources of COVID-19 vaccine information and their trust in these sources may play an important role in shaping their acceptance of vaccine uptake.MethodsIn September 2020, we conducted an online survey among 1062 college students in South Carolina to understand their perceptions and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination. Descriptive analysis and linear regression analysis were used to investigate vaccine information sources among college students and examine how COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was associated with information source and trust level in each source.ResultsThe top three sources of COVID-19 vaccine information were health agencies (57.7%), mass media (49.5%), and personal social networks (40.5%). About 83.1% of the participants largely or always trusted scientists, 73.9% trusted healthcare providers, and 70.2% trusted health agencies. After controlling for key demographics, vaccine acceptance was positively associated with scientists as information sources but negatively associated with pharmaceutical companies as sources. Higher trust levels in mass media, health agencies, scientists, and pharmaceutical companies was significantly associated with higher COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. However, trust in social media was negatively associated with vaccine acceptance.DiscussionCollege students use multiple sources to learn about upcoming COVID-19 vaccines including health agencies, personal networks, and social media. The level of trust in these information sources play a critical role in predicting vaccine acceptance. Trust in health authorities and scientists rather than social media is related to higher level vaccine acceptance. Our findings echo the call for restoring trust in government, healthcare system, scientists, and pharmaceutical industries in the COVID-19 era and highlight the urgency to dispel misinformation in social media. Effective strategies are needed to disseminate accurate information about COVID-19 vaccine from health authorities and scientific research to improve vaccine communication to the public and promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Vaccine acceptance among college students in South Carolina: Do information sources and trust in information make a difference?

Qiao

Friedman

Tam

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, the two vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use, and both of them use messenger RNA (mRNA) for viral protein expression. 21 Several other leading COVID-19 vaccines (i.e., Oxford-AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, CanSino) are made from segments of viral DNA, which is packaged inside the adenovirus for delivery into host cells. Recently, a similar adenovirus-based vaccine has been approved for Ebola.…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomaterial-based immunoengineering to fight COVID-19 and infectious diseases

Zárubová

Zhang

Hoffman

et al. 2021

Matter

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Infection by SARS-CoV-2 virus often induces the dysregulation of immune responses, tissue damage, and blood clotting. Engineered biomaterials from the nano to macro scale can provide targeted drug delivery, controlled drug release, local immunomodulation, enhanced immunity, and other desirable functions to coordinate appropriate immune responses and repair tissues. Based on the understanding of COVID-19 disease progression and immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, we discuss possible immuno-therapeutic strategies and highlight biomaterial approaches from the perspectives of preventive immunization, therapeutic immunomodulation, and tissue healing and regeneration. Successful development of biomaterial platforms for immunization and immunomodulation will not only benefit COVID-19 patients, but also have broad applications for a variety of infectious diseases.

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“…Many public health commentators and researchers have called for transparent communication of COVID-19 vaccine information, including the efficacy and side effects reported from clinical trials, to improve vaccine uptake (Cohen et al, 2020; Nature, 2020; Quinn et al, 2021). Some, for example, Rzymski et al (2021), think that such information may change individuals’ vaccine beliefs: “The general public must be given access to the pivotal information on the authorized vaccines, and that their approval is based on the evidenced benefits that outweigh the potential risks of vaccine administration” (p. 3).…”

Section: Transparent Communication Of Vaccine Risks and Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of information about COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and side effects on behavioural intentions: two online experiments

Kerr

Freeman

Marteau

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The success of mass COVID-19 vaccination campaigns rests on widespread uptake. However, although vaccinations provide good protection, they do not offer full immunity and while they likely reduce transmission of the virus to others, the extent of this remains uncertain. This produces a dilemma for communicators who wish to be transparent about benefits and harms and encourage continued caution in vaccinated individuals but not undermine confidence in an important public health measure. In two large pre-registered experimental studies on quota-sampled UK public participants we investigate the effects of providing transparent communication—including uncertainty—about vaccination effectiveness on decision-making. In Study 1 (n = 2,097) we report that detailed information about COVID-19 vaccines, including results of clinical trials, does not have a significant impact on beliefs about the efficacy of such vaccines, concerns over side effects, or intentions to receive a vaccine. Study 2 (n = 2,217) addressed concerns that highlighting the need to maintain protective behaviours (e.g. social distancing) post-vaccination may lower perceptions of vaccine efficacy and willingness to receive a vaccine. We do not find evidence of this: transparent messages did not significantly reduce perceptions of vaccine efficacy, and in some cases increased perceptions of efficacy. We again report no main effect of messages on intentions to receive a vaccine. The results of both studies suggest that transparently informing people of the limitations of vaccinations does not reduce intentions to be vaccinated but neither does it increase intentions to engage in protective behaviours post-vaccination.

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Communicating Effectively About Emergency Use Authorization and Vaccines in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 50 publications

References 5 publications

Vaccine acceptance among college students in South Carolina: Do information sources and trust in information make a difference?

Vaccine acceptance among college students in South Carolina: Do information sources and trust in information make a difference?

Biomaterial-based immunoengineering to fight COVID-19 and infectious diseases

Effect of information about COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and side effects on behavioural intentions: two online experiments

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