“Doctors Just Don’t Care about People!” How Medical Specialists Are Depicted in a Vaccine-Critical Estonian Facebook Group

Vaccine hesitancy as a great health risk is related to trust in healthcare providers’ recommendations and provider-parent interaction. The negative image of doctors and their motives may hinder open communication and trustful relationship. As the role of the internet as a source for health information and emotional support has become significant, social media discussions about health and medicine provide valuable opportunities to observe the formation of critical attitudes towards doctors and medicine. This article examines representations of medical specialists in an Estonian vaccine-critical public Facebook group. On the forum, doctors are depicted as dumb and blind believers who operate in a wrong paradigm and are not able to see the full and accurate picture of “real health”. According to the group rhetoric, doctors’ willingness to help parents and children is limited as they depend on a broader exploitive medical system or Big Pharma. As medical specialists are not trustworthy and do not take any responsibility, parents feel that they must closely control all the actions. The group members believe that it is better not tell the truth to doctors and, if necessary, to threaten them with law enforcement. Many of the forum posts are very emotional, illustrating the heavy burden parents perceive in taking vaccine-related decisions. The ridiculing of medical specialists has an empowering effect on patients to feel more in control. Forum posts emphasize common belonging and shared concerns. Therefore, social media is not only a stage for vaccine information but an active factor contributing to the circulation of meanings and enabling emotional support and community formation.

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Faster than warp speed: early attention to COVD-19 by anti-vaccine groups on Facebook

Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/pubmed/fdab093 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Seth C Kalichman ◽

Lisa A Eaton ◽

Valerie A Earnshaw ◽

Natalie Brousseau

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Rapid Development ◽

Development Program ◽

Vaccine Safety ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Conspiracy Theories ◽

The Us ◽

Us Government ◽

Vaccine Information

Abstract Background The unprecedented rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines has faced SARS-CoV- (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy, which is partially fueled by the misinformation and conspiracy theories propagated by anti-vaccine groups on social media. Research is needed to better understand the early COVID-19 anti-vaccine activities on social media. Methods This study chronicles the social media posts concerning COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines by leading anti-vaccine groups (Dr Tenpenny on Vaccines, the National Vaccine Information Center [NVIC] the Vaccination Information Network [VINE]) and Vaccine Machine in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic (February–May 2020). Results Analysis of 2060 Facebook posts showed that anti-vaccine groups were discussing COVID-19 in the first week of February 2020 and were specifically discussing COVID-19 vaccines by mid-February 2020. COVID-19 posts by NVIC were more widely disseminated and showed greater influence than non-COVID-19 posts. Early COVID-19 posts concerned mistrust of vaccine safety and conspiracy theories. Conclusion Major anti-vaccine groups were sowing seeds of doubt on Facebook weeks before the US government launched its vaccine development program ‘Operation Warp Speed’. Early anti-vaccine misinformation campaigns outpaced public health messaging and hampered the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

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Public Willingness and Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccination at the Initial Stage of Mass Vaccination in China

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines9101172 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 1172

Author(s):

Yi-Miao Zhao ◽

Lin Liu ◽

Jie Sun ◽

Wei Yan ◽

Kai Yuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Online Survey ◽

Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽

Vaccine Safety ◽

High Income ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Depression Symptoms ◽

Middle Aged ◽

The Government ◽

Vaccine Information

The present study assessed the willingness of the general population to receive COVID-19 vaccines and identified factors that influence vaccine hesitancy and resistance. A national online survey was conducted from 29 January 2021 to 26 April 2021 in China. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors that influence vaccine hesitancy and resistance. Of the 34,041 participants surveyed, 18,810 (55.3%) were willing to get vaccinated, 13,736 (40.3%) were hesitant, and 1495 (4.4%) were resistant. Rates of vaccine acceptance increased over time, with geographical discrepancies in vaccine hesitancy and resistance between provinces in China. Vaccine safety was the greatest concern expressed by most participants (24,461 [71.9%]), and the major reason for participants’ refusing vaccination (974 [65.2%]). Government agencies (23,131 [68.0%]) and social media (20,967 [61.6%]) were the main sources of COVID-19 vaccine information. Compared with vaccination acceptance, female, young and middle-aged, high income, and perceived low-risk of infection were associated with vaccine hesitancy. Histories of allergic reactions to other vaccines and depression symptoms were related to vaccine resistance. Common factors that influenced vaccine hesitancy and resistance were residing in cities and perceiving less protection with vaccines than with other protective measures. The results indicate that the rate of vaccine resistance is relatively low, but vaccine hesitancy is common. Individuals who are female, young and middle-aged, with a high income, and residing in cities are more likely to be hesitant for vaccination and should be the target populations for vaccination campaigns. Specific vaccine messaging from the government and social media could alleviate public concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy.

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Social Media, Vaccine Hesitancy and Trust Deficit in Immunization Programs: A Qualitative Enquiry in Malappuram District of Kerala, India

10.21203/rs.3.rs-167761/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anoop T Nair ◽

Kesavan Rajasekharan Nayar ◽

Shaffi Fazaludeen Koya ◽

Minu Abraham ◽

Jinbert L. Azariah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Vaccination Coverage ◽

Health Workers ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Health Sector ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Health Staff ◽

Immunization Programs ◽

Soft Skill ◽

Medical Practitioners

Abstract BackgroundWith increased penetration of the internet and social media, there are concerns regarding its negative role in influencing parents’ decisions regarding vaccination for their children. It is perceived that a mix of religious reasons and propaganda by anti-vaccination groups on social media are lowering the vaccination coverage in Malappuram district of Kerala. We undertook a qualitative study to understand the factors responsible for generating and perpetuating vaccine hesitancy; to understand the pathways of trust deficit in immunization programs; and to understand the interaction between various social media actors. MethodsIn-depth interviews and focus group discussions conducted among parents/caregivers, physicians, public sector health staff, alternate system medical practitioners, field healthcare workers, and teachers in areas with highest and lowest vaccination coverage in the district as well as with communication experts. ResultsThe trust-deficit between parents/caregivers and healthcare providers is created by multiple factors such as providers’ lack of technical knowledge, existing patriarchal societal norms, and vaccine critical views of naturopaths and homeopaths. Anti-vaccine groups use social media to influence caregivers' perceptions and beliefs. Religion does not appear to play a major role in creating vaccine resistance in this setting. ConclusionsA long-term, multi-pronged strategy should be adopted to address the trust deficit. In the short to medium term, health sector can focus on appropriate and targeted vaccine related communication strategies including the use of infographics, soft skill development of health workers, technical competency improvement through a mobile application-based repository of information, and creation of a cell to monitor vaccine related conversations in social media and intervene if needed.

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Vaccination During the COVID-19 Pandemic: What Nurses Need To Know

OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing ◽

10.3912/ojin.vol26no02man05 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Blima Marcus ◽

Lindsey Danielson ◽

Tamar Frenkel

Keyword(s):

Vaccine Development ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Frontline Workers ◽

History Of ◽

Vaccine Information ◽

One Year ◽

Collaborative Efforts

In late 2019 a new virus emerged from China which would become the worst pandemic the world had experienced since the flu pandemic of 1918. Over one year later, the virus has infected over 100 million people and claimed the lives of over 2 million people. In this article, we first offer a brief overview about the COVID-19 pandemic. We review efforts to slow the spread and flatten the curve to contain the disease such as mask-wearing, hand hygiene, and testing. Unprecedented funding and collaborative efforts have resulted in highly effective and safe vaccines, rolled out in December 2020. We also briefly discuss the history of vaccine development and previous outbreaks and lessons learned, followed by new vaccine technologies; barriers related to vaccination; vaccine hesitancy; successful vaccination programs; and vaccine hesitancy in healthcare providers. We conclude with implications for nurses to consider as they serve as trusted sources of vaccine information in their roles as frontline workers.

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Identifying the False Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Information and Corresponding Risk Perceptions from Twitter Using Advanced Predictive Models (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.30451 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tre Tomaszewski ◽

Alex Morales ◽

Ismini Lourentzou ◽

Rachel Caskey ◽

Bing Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Human Papillomavirus ◽

Language Processing ◽

Predictive Models ◽

Hpv Vaccine ◽

Risk Perceptions ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Hpv Vaccines ◽

Related Information ◽

Vaccine Information

BACKGROUND The vaccination uptake rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine remain low despite the fact that the effectiveness of HPV vaccines has been established for more than a decade. Vaccine hesitancy is in part due to false information about HPV vaccines on social media. Combating false HPV vaccine information is a reasonable step to address the vaccine hesitancy. OBJECTIVE Given the substantial harm of false HPV vaccine information, there is an urgent need to identify false social media messages before it goes viral. The goal of the study is to develop a systematic and generalizable approach to identifying false HPV-vaccine information on social media. METHODS The study used machine learning and natural language processing to develop a series of classification models and causality mining methods to identify and examine true and false HPV-vaccine related information on Twitter. RESULTS We concluded the convolutional neural network (CNN) model outperformed all other models in identifying tweets containing false HPV-vaccine related information (F1=91.95). We develop a completely unsupervised causal mining method to identify HPV vaccine candidate effects with a recall of (0.54) when considering proper matches and discover over 1900 novel candidate effect phrases. Furthermore, we show that the misinformation messages are framed about the potential risk of vaccines while truthful messages describe the potential benefits of the vaccines. CONCLUSIONS Our research demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of using predictive models to identify false HPV vaccine information and its risk perceptions on social media.

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Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Mongolia: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182412903 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (24) ◽

pp. 12903

Author(s):

Davaalkham Dambadarjaa ◽

Gan-Erdene Altankhuyag ◽

Unurtesteg Chandaga ◽

Ser-Od Khuyag ◽

Bilegt Batkhorol ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Side Effects ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Online Survey ◽

Adult Population ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Personal View ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Vaccine Information

Vaccine acceptance in the general public is essential in controlling the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The study aimed to assess the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the adult population of Mongolia, and determine the associated factors. A total of 2875 individuals from urban and rural areas were recruited, and completed an online survey. Older age, urban residence, previous vaccination, high education, good knowledge of side effects, and a personal view of the importance of vaccines were associated with vaccine acceptability, whereas gender and religion were not. Receiving COVID-19 vaccine information from official government pages was related to a higher acceptance rate. Reliance on social media as a source of COVID-19 vaccine information was associated with high level of vaccine hesitancy. The side effects and the type of the COVID-19 vaccine were a major reason for hesitation. Countering false information regarding COVID-19 vaccines on social media, and promoting vaccine importance on general news websites is necessary. Moreover, providing clear and direct educational materials through official communication channels on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines alongside information on COVID-19 symptoms, vaccine side effects, and location of vaccine administration centers among the younger populations, rural residents, and those with lower education is needed.

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Social media, vaccine hesitancy and trust deficit in immunization programs: a qualitative enquiry in Malappuram District of Kerala, India

Health Research Policy and Systems ◽

10.1186/s12961-021-00698-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (S2) ◽

Author(s):

Anoop T. Nair ◽

Kesavan Rajasekharan Nayar ◽

Shaffi Fazaludeen Koya ◽

Minu Abraham ◽

Jinbert Lordson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Vaccination Coverage ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Health Sector ◽

Skills Training ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Health Staff ◽

Immunization Programs ◽

Medical Practitioners

Abstract Background With increased penetration of the internet and social media, there are concerns regarding its negative role in influencing parents’ decisions regarding vaccination for their children. It is perceived that a mix of religious reasons and propaganda by anti-vaccination groups on social media are lowering the vaccination coverage in Malappuram district of Kerala. We undertook a qualitative study to understand the factors responsible for generating and perpetuating vaccine hesitancy, the pathways of trust deficit in immunization programs and the interaction between various social media actors. Methods In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted among parents/caregivers, physicians, public sector health staff, alternative system medical practitioners, field healthcare workers and teachers in areas with highest and lowest vaccination coverage in the district, as well as with communication experts. Results The trust deficit between parents/caregivers and healthcare providers is created by multiple factors, such as providers’ lack of technical knowledge, existing patriarchal societal norms and critical views of vaccine by naturopaths and homeopaths. Anti-vaccine groups use social media to influence caregivers' perceptions and beliefs. Religion does not appear to play a major role in creating vaccine resistance in this setting. Conclusions A long-term, multipronged strategy should be adopted to address the trust deficit. In the short to medium term, the health sector can focus on appropriate and targeted vaccine-related communication strategies, including the use of infographics, soft skills training for healthcare workers, technical competency improvement through a mobile application-based repository of information and creation of a media cell to monitor vaccine-related conversations in social media and to intervene if needed.

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The COVID-19 vaccine social media infodemic: healthcare providers’ missed dose in addressing misinformation and vaccine hesitancy

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics ◽

10.1080/21645515.2021.1912551 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-3

Author(s):

Raquel G. Hernandez ◽

Loni Hagen ◽

Kimberly Walker ◽

Heather O’Leary ◽

Cecile Lengacher

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy

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INCREASING ADOPTION OFSOCIAL MEDIA IN HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS : OPPORTUNITIES AND CONCERNS

Management Insight - The Journal of Incisive Analysers ◽

10.21844/mijia.v12i1.11388 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sharafat Hussain ◽

Prof. Mohd. Abdul Azeem

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Social Media ◽

Social Networking ◽

Health Care Organizations ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Healthcare Organizations ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Potential Benefits ◽

Social Media Presence ◽

Use Of Social Media

Adoption of social media amongst health care organizations is thriving. Healthcare providers have begun to connect with patients via social media. While some healthcare organizations have taken the initiative, numerous others are attempting to comprehend this new medium of opportunity. These organizations are finding that social networking can be an effective way to monitor brand, connecting with patients, community, and patient education and acquiring new talent. This study is conducted to identify the purpose of using social media, concerns, policy and its implementation and the overall experience of healthcare organizations with social media. To collect first hand data, online questionnaire was sent via LinkedIn to 400 US healthcare organizations and representatives out of which 117 responded and were taken further for analsysis. The results of this study confirm the thriving adoption, increased opportunities and cautious use of social media by healthcare organizations. The potential benefits present outweigh the risk and concerns associated with it. Study concluded that social media presence will continue to grow into the future and the field of healthcare is no exception.

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Social media and peer-to-peer support for individuals with health care needs and their caregivers: a scoping review (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.16271 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Katherine Kelly ◽

Shelley Doucet ◽

Alison Luke ◽

Rima Azar ◽

William Montelpare

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Social Media ◽

Peer Support ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Emotional Support ◽

Peer To Peer ◽

Health Care Needs ◽

Care Providers ◽

Care Needs ◽

The Many

BACKGROUND Individuals with health care needs and their caregivers require substantial informational and emotional support. Providing this support is a major challenge for care providers, who are often not able to adequately address barriers and may not be aware of available services and programs. Online P2P support offers an accessible and inexpensive source of support; however, the breadth of these supports on social media has not been previously documented. OBJECTIVE This study was a scoping review of research examining the use of peer-to-peer support on social media by individuals with health care needs and their caregivers. METHODS This review used the PRISMA-SR method to search for articles from 1997 to 2019. RESULTS A total of 94 articles were included. Patients and caregivers use many social media websites for P2P interaction, including: Facebook (n = 19), Twitter (n = 7), and YouTube (n = 6). Providing and receiving informational and emotional support were important uses of social media for P2P support; however, the specific needs and experiences of patients and caregivers appeared to change as knowledge regarding the condition(s) improved. Despite the many benefits associated with participating in online P2P groups, concerns related to ethics, privacy, and the potential to spread misinformation are outlined as risks associated with its use. CONCLUSIONS This study revealed that patients and caregivers engage in P2P support on social media to receive informational and emotional support from peers, despite known risks and limitations. Social networking websites were revealed to be particularly suited for P2P support communication.

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