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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2022 Aug 5;17(8):e0272426.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272426. eCollection 2022.

Communicating about COVID-19 vaccine development and safety

Alistair Thorpe  1 , Angela Fagerlin  1   2 , Jorie Butler  1   2   3 , Vanessa Stevens  1   2 , Frank A Drews  2   4 , Holly Shoemaker  1   2 , Marian S Riddoch  1 , Laura D Scherer  5   6
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Communicating about COVID-19 vaccine development and safety

Alistair Thorpe et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Purpose: Beliefs that the risks from a COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks from getting COVID-19 and concerns that the vaccine development process was rushed and lacking rigor have been identified as important drivers of hesitancy and refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine. We tested whether messages designed to address these beliefs and concerns might promote intentions to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Method: We conducted an online survey fielded between March 8-23, 2021 with US Veteran (n = 688) and non-Veteran (n = 387) respondents. In a between-subjects experiment, respondents were randomly assigned to a control group (with no message) or to read one of two intervention messages: 1. a fact-box styled message comparing the risks of getting COVID-19 compared to the vaccine, and 2. a timeline styled message describing the development process of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

Results: Most respondents (60%) wanted a COVID-19 vaccine. However, 17% expressed hesitancy and 23% did not want to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The fact-box styled message and the timeline message did not significantly improve vaccination intentions, F(2,358) = 0.86, p = .425, [Formula: see text] = .005, or reduce the time respondents wanted to wait before getting vaccinated, F(2,306) = 0.79, p = .453, [Formula: see text] = .005, compared to no messages.

Discussion: In this experimental study, we did not find that providing messages about vaccine risks and the development process had an impact on respondents' vaccine intentions. Further research is needed to identify how to effectively address concerns about the risks associated with COVID-19 vaccines and the development process and to understand additional factors that influence vaccine intentions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Factbox style message (left) about the risks of getting a vaccine compared to getting COVID-19 and the Timeline message (right) about the development of COVID-19 vaccines.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Mean COVID-19 vaccine intention scores for the factbox message (showing risk of getting COVID-19 versus risk of getting a COVID-19 vaccine), the timeline message (showing the development of mRNA and COVID-19 vaccine research), and control group.
The middle bold line represents the mean and the error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Individual data points are displayed along with shaded density distributions.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Predictors of respondents’ COVID-19 vaccine intentions and how long they would wait before getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Model estimates are represented by the triangular and circular point shapes with error bars for the 95% confidence intervals. Reference groups are: age: ≤64, non-Veteran, and any other Race/Ethnicity. R2 adjusted: Vaccine intentions = 0.68, Time to vaccine = 0.70.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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