COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake and Influence of Mass Media: A Cross-Sectional Survey on Community People of Bangladesh

Abstract

This work aimed to appraise the mass media influence on getting Bangladeshi people vaccinated during the second wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A cross-sectional study was performed among 1012 eligible respondents using a self-administered questionnaire to obtain data collected in March and April 2021 that assessed 1) the participant demographics, 2) perception towards beliefs and attitudes of COVID-19 vaccination via 5 items, 3) perception towards COVID-19 vaccination barriers via 5 items, 4) exposure to different media for COVID-19 vaccine news via 5 items, and 5) media's credibility in providing key information on COVID-19 vaccines via 5 items. Data were analyzed with frequency, mean and standard deviation of responses on each statement. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was carried out. About 1012 participants were analysed (mean age ± standard error = 45.9 ± 10.6 years, range above 18 years). Most of the participants had positive responses with a high mean score for the media's credibility in providing key information on COVID-19 vaccines (4.46 ± 0.57), perception towards COVID-19 vaccination beliefs and attitudes (3.82 ± 0.78) and exposure to different media for COVID-19 vaccine news (3.76 ± 0.68). Participants’ exposure to different media and media's credibility was significantly associated with high adoption of getting vaccinated (AOR = 1.3, 95% CI: 1.1–1.3, p<0.05; AOR = 3.1, 95% CI: 1.8–5.7, p<0.001, respectively). Research has shown that credible information about vaccines found in the media raised a person's level of motivation by raising awareness and contributed significantly to vaccine adoption.