Polarization Over Vaccination: Ideological Differences in Twitter Expression About COVID-19 Vaccine Favorability and Specific Hesitancy Concerns

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy has been a growing public health issue, but during COVID-19, understanding vaccine hesitancy and promote vaccine favorability takes on a troubling immediacy. With the growing political polarization on scientific issues, the COVID-19 vaccine-related sentiment has recently been divided across ideological lines. This study aims to understand how vaccine favorability and specific vaccine-related concerns including possible side effects, distrust in medical professionals, and conspiratorial beliefs concerning COVID-19 vaccines were articulated and transmitted by Twitter users from opposing ideological camps and with different follower scopes. Using a combination of computational approaches, including supervised machine-learning and structural topic modeling, we examined tweets surrounding COVID-19 vaccination ( N = 16,959) from 1 March to 30 June 2020. Results from linear mixed-effects models suggested that Twitter users high on conservative ideology and with a standard instead of large follower scope tend to express less favorable vaccine-related sentiments and talk more about vaccine side effects, distrust of medical professionals, and conspiracy theories. There is also an interaction effect where liberals with large follower scope expressed the least amount of distrust of medical professionals, whereas extreme conservatives expressed greater distrust for health professionals, regardless of their follower scope. Finally, structural topic modeling revealed distinct topical focuses among liberal and conservative users. Theoretical and practical implications for leveraging social media in effective health communication practice were discussed.

Can culture beat Covid‐19? Evidence that exposure to facemasks with cultural symbols increases solidarity

“…The COVID‐19 pandemic, declared in March 2020 (World Health Organization, 2020), presented significant challenges for individuals (e.g., Social Metrics Commission, 2020; Wu et al, 2021), intergroup relations (e.g., Jiang et al, 2021; Prosser et al, 2020), and societies (e.g. Abrams et al, 2021; Carothers & Press, 2020; Mazey & Richardson, 2020).…”

War of the Words. The Online Conversation about NATO in Romania: Communicators, Content, Communities

“…In the aftermath of the pandemic, whilst the medical burden is slowly diminishing, the other, presumably longlasting effects, come to the forefront. The polarizing effect that the debate around vaccination brought or intensified in various societies is one such noteworthy effect, with politicization of the debate along ideological lines (Jiang et al, 2021); another is the impact that the increasing level of disinformation has on public trust in institutions and in geopolitical allies.…”

"Politicization of Immunization: Radicalism in the Field of Science"

“…Besides, according to their "natural immunity theory", barricades to microbes, like physical distancing and masks, deteriorate our immune system, and vaccines are just one more artificial loaded weapon that has targeted our immune system [19]. Nonetheless, while the emergent political polarization on scientific matters has caused the COVID-19 vaccine-related feeling to be separated across sociopolitical lines [20], COVID-19 continues to contaminate and kill; so, extensive immunization becomes indispensable for combating the virus [21]. Alternatively, using inoculation to battle the COVID-19 illness will not work effectively unless the majority of the people get immunized [22], whose hesitancy may derive from specific concerns about side effects, distrust of medical professions, conspiratorial beliefs [23][24][25], low levels of trust in political institutions, a low degree of education, and a feeling of alienation [1].…”

“…Likewise, inquiry has exhibited that those who are more conformist are less likely to have confidence in medical professionals [32,33], and are more expected to confirm conspiracy schemes such as vaccine threats are being censored by pharmaceutical corporations [34]. Also, analysis has shown that while liberal people seem to emphasize vaccine development and its role in termination of contagion, conservative persons discuss the probable wrongdoing in vaccine studies and related broadcasts [20].…”

“…It seems that intriguing concepts of various types, along with anti-vaccination dogmas and political radicalism tend to be linked with each other [36,37]. While the particulars of the conspiracy theories from the left and the right are markedly dissimilar, all of them see malevolent or hidden motives in diverse groups of persons and administrations behind immunization progression and distribution [20]. A common allegation is that the vaccination programs and lockdown measures are part of a great plot to establish an innovative universal totalitarian system [New World Order], which is going to be shaped by a secret group of influential elites.…”