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. 2023 Dec 7:11:1248949.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1248949. eCollection 2023.

A social media intervention for communicating vaccine safety in low- and middle-income countries: protocol for a pilot study

Lucie Marisa Bucci #  1 , Smaragda Lamprianou #  2 , Francesco Gesualdo  3 , Alberto E Tozzi  3 , Tala Ghalayini  4 , Isabelle Sahinovic #  2 , Shanthi Pal #  2
Affiliations

A social media intervention for communicating vaccine safety in low- and middle-income countries: protocol for a pilot study

Lucie Marisa Bucci et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Vaccine safety is a concern that continues to drive hesitancy and refusal in populations in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). Communicating about vaccine safety is a strategy that can successfully change personal and community perceptions and behaviors toward vaccination. The COVID-19 infodemic emergency with the rapid rollout of new vaccines and new technology, demonstrated the need for good and effective vaccine safety communication. The Vaccine Safety Net (VSN), a WHO-led global network of websites that provide reliable information on vaccine safety offers the ideal environment for gathering web and social media analytics for measuring impact of vaccine safety messages. Its members work with a wide range of populations, in different geographic locations and at many levels including national, regional, and local. We propose to undertake a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility of implementing COVID-19 vaccine safety communications with VSN members working in LMICs and to assess the impact of communications on public knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions.

Keywords: COVID-19; LMIC; communication; social media; surveillance; vaccine safety.

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Conflict of interest statement

LB was employed by Bucci-Hepworth Health Services. TG was employed by Accenture Health and Public Service. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
VSN social media framework.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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