Abstract
The success of mass COVID-19 vaccination campaigns rests on widespread uptake. However, although vaccinations provide good protection, they do not offer full immunity and while they likely reduce transmission of the virus to others, the extent of this remains uncertain. This produces a dilemma for communicators who wish to be transparent about benefits and harms and encourage continued caution in vaccinated individuals but not undermine confidence in an important public health measure. In two large pre-registered experimental studies on quota-sampled UK public participants we investigate the effects of providing transparent communication—including uncertainty—about vaccination effectiveness on decision-making. In Study 1 (n = 2097) we report that detailed information about COVID-19 vaccines, including results of clinical trials, does not have a significant impact on beliefs about the efficacy of such vaccines, concerns over side effects, or intentions to receive a vaccine. Study 2 (n = 2217) addressed concerns that highlighting the need to maintain protective behaviours (e.g., social distancing) post-vaccination may lower perceptions of vaccine efficacy and willingness to receive a vaccine. We do not find evidence of this: transparent messages did not significantly reduce perceptions of vaccine efficacy, and in some cases increased perceptions of efficacy. We again report no main effect of messages on intentions to receive a vaccine. The results of both studies suggest that transparently informing people of the limitations of vaccinations does not reduce intentions to be vaccinated but neither does it increase intentions to engage in protective behaviours post-vaccination.
Highlights
At the time of writing more than 2.5 million people are estimated to have died from COVID-19 [1] and wide-ranging restrictions have been placed on people across the globe, with immense social and economic consequences [2,3]
Reading detailed information about the risks and benefits of vaccination, the vaccine approval process, or how vaccines induce immunity had no significant impact on the main dependent variables: one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no significant effect of experimental condition on willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, F(4, 2091) = 0.72, p = 0.58; belief that COVID-19 vaccines are effective, F(4, 2092) = 0.63, p = 0.64, concern over COVID-19 vaccine side effects, F(4, 2091) = 1.51, p = 0.20, or concern over the speed of COVID vaccine regulatory approval, F(4, 2090) = 0.71, p = 0.58
We find that messages outlining the known risks and benefits of COVID19 vaccines have little impact on vaccination intentions or beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines in UK online samples but some messages increase reported understanding of the risk and benefits
Summary
At the time of writing more than 2.5 million people are estimated to have died from COVID-19 [1] and wide-ranging restrictions have been placed on people across the globe, with immense social and economic consequences [2,3]. A sizable minority of people around the world express hesitancy towards taking COVID-19 vaccines [8]—defined as “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services.” [9] Factors such as religion, gender, political ideology, and trust in medical and scientific institutions have been shown to be associated with vaccine hesitancy, both in general and regarding COVID-19 vaccines [8,10,11]. Gender, political ideology, and trust in medical and scientific institutions have been shown to be associated with vaccine hesitancy, both in general and regarding COVID-19 vaccines [8,10,11] While these broader factors are important, research has shown that specific beliefs about and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccinations are closely linked to vaccination intentions [8,12]. Whether these attitudes can be, and should be, changed by communication ‘campaigns’ is a matter of active debate worldwide
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