COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: The Perils of Peddling Science by Social Media and the Lay Press

Abstract

Introduction: Vaccines are the best tools to end the pandemic, and their public acceptance is crucial in achieving herd immunity. Despite global efforts to increase access to vaccination, the World Health Organization explicitly lists vaccination hesitancy (VH) as a significant threat. Despite robust safety reports from regulatory authorities and public health advisories, a substantial proportion of the community remains obsessed with the hazards of vaccination. This calls for identifying and eliminating possible causative elements, among which this study investigates the inappropriate dissemination of medical literature concerning COVID-19 and adverse events following immunization (AEFI), its influence on promoting VH, and proposals for overcoming this problem in the future. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases, using the keywords “adverse events following immunization (AEFI),” “COVID-19”, “vaccines,” and “hesitancy”, and related medical and subjective headings (MeSH) up to 31st March 2022, and extracted studies relevant to the COVID-19 AEFI and associated VH. Finally, 47 articles were chosen to generate a narrative synthesis. Results: The databases depicted a steep rise in publications on COVID-19 AEFI and COVID-19 VH from January 2021 onwards. The articles depicted multiple events of mild AEFIs without fatal events in recipients. While documenting AEFIs is praiseworthy, publishing such reports without prior expert surveillance can exaggerate public apprehension and inappropriately fuel VH. VH is a deep-rooted phenomenon, but it is difficult to zero in on the exact reason for it. Spreading rumors/misinformation on COVID-19 vaccines might be an important provocation for VH, which includes indiscriminately reporting AEFI on a massive scale. While a number of reported AEFIs fall within the acceptable limits in the course of extensive COVID-19 vaccinations, it is important to critically evaluate and moderate the reporting and dissemination of AEFI in order to allay panic. Conclusions: Vaccination programs are necessary to end any pandemic, and VH may be attributed to multiple reasons. VH may be assuaged by initiating educational programs on the importance of vaccination, raising public awareness and monitoring the inappropriate dissemination of misleading information. Government-initiated strategies can potentially restrict random AEFI reports from lay epidemiologists and healthcare practitioners.

Validating part of the social media infodemic listening conceptual framework using structural equation modelling

“…Although social media platforms can be useful tools for disseminating accurate and helpful information, they also fuel vaccine hesitancy. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 The spread of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines has been a breeding ground for vaccine hesitancy given conspiracy theories and other misleading information regarding vaccine safety and efficacy, polarization, and emotions, which can easily go viral and create doubts among users. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 In addition to typical online questionnaires or qualitative analysis, researchers have applied machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to investigate and better understand public discourse and sentiments and infer people's COVID-19 vaccine intentions.…”

“… 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 The spread of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines has been a breeding ground for vaccine hesitancy given conspiracy theories and other misleading information regarding vaccine safety and efficacy, polarization, and emotions, which can easily go viral and create doubts among users. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 In addition to typical online questionnaires or qualitative analysis, researchers have applied machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to investigate and better understand public discourse and sentiments and infer people's COVID-19 vaccine intentions. 7 , 8 , 9 The World Health Organization coined the term “social listening” to describe such activities and deployed its Early AI-Supported Response with Social Listening (EARS) platform during the pandemic.…”

Assessment Of Perception Of Covid-19 Infection And Vaccination Among Health CareWorkers In Mecca, Saudi Arabia2022

“…[4,5] The COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a respiratory disease with symptoms ranging from asymptomatic to mild or severe complications, such as respiratory distress, pneumonia, and death [6]. Nonpharmaceutical interventions such as facemask wearing, quarantine, and social distancing have shown some effectiveness in containing the spread of the disease [7]. However, a safe vaccination program with broad clinical benefits is considered a suitable long-term solution when implemented globally.…”

Vaccine Hesitancy Hotspots in Africa: An Insight from Geotagged Twitter Posts

“…The detrimental influence of vaccine misinformation on Twitter to public health cannot be over emphasised. There should be an increase in the use of social media like Twitter to the support of public health in the continuous struggle against vaccine hesitancy or vaccine refusal/rejection not just in the era of COVID-19 but for future outbreaks [19], [20].…”