Beyond vaccination: messaging from religious leaders can help increase adherence to COVID-19 mitigation guidelines following vaccination. A research note

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite the progress in vaccination, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over in the United States. Due to lingering questions about the virus transmissivity and the emergence of new highly infectious strands, experts believe even fully vaccinated people should continue to adhere to mitigation guidelines, such as mask wearing. We conducted a survey experiment to investigate if messages from different leaders could encourage the already vaccinated population to continue following mitigation guidelines. In April, 2021, we surveyed 2,135 vaccinated registered voters in South Dakota and presented them with identical messages encouraging continued adherence to COVID-19 mitigation guidelines from a political, religious, or medical leader. Results from statistical analyses show that messaging from a religious leader was more effective than messages from either political or medical leaders. The results underscore both the effectiveness of religious leaders as public health messengers and limitations of political and medical leaders as messengers, and suggest that public health professionals and officials might find it beneficial to coordinate their efforts with leaders in faith communities.