Abstract
To increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake in resistant populations, such as Republicans, focus groups suggest that it is best to de-politicize the issue by sharing five facts from a public health expert. Yet polls suggest that Trump voters trust former President Donald Trump for medical advice more than they trust experts. We conducted an online, randomized, national experiment among 387 non-vaccinated Trump voters, using two brief audiovisual artifacts from Spring 2021, either facts delivered by an expert versus political claims delivered by President Trump. Relative to the control group, Trump voters who viewed the video of Trump endorsing the vaccine were 85% more likely to answer “yes” as opposed to “no” in their intention to get fully vaccinated (RRR = 1.85, 95% CI 1.01 to 3.40; P = .048). There were no significant differences between those hearing the public health expert excerpt and the control group (for “yes” relative to “no” RRR = 1.14, 95% CI 0.61 to 2.12; P = .68). These findings suggest that a political speaker’s endorsement of the COVID-19 vaccine may increase uptake among those who identify with that speaker. Contrary to highly-publicized focus group findings, our randomized experiment found that an expert’s factually accurate message may not be effectual to increase vaccination intentions.
Highlights
Political polarization is a barrier to fighting COVID-19
Leading Republican pollster Frank Lutz and Dr Tom Frieden, a former director of the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducted a highly-publicized focus group, which found that Americans who identified as Republicans were receptive to five factual claims delivered by an expert, but were not receptive to advice delivered by politicians, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Sen
Relative to the control group, Trump voters who viewed the video of Trump endorsing the vaccine were 85% more likely to answer “yes” as opposed to “no” in their intention to get fully vaccinated (RRR = 1.85, 95% CI 1.01 to 3.40; P = .048)
Summary
Political polarization is a barrier to fighting COVID-19. Several subpopulations are of concern, including the nearly half of Republicans who said in April 2021 that they will decline the vaccine [1]. Former President Trump endorsed the COVID-19 vaccine in a March 2021 interview on Fox News, claiming credit for it, and disclosing that he and the First Lady Melania Trump had received it [4]. By this time, Trump no longer had the platforms of the White House or Twitter, which may have reduced the impact of his endorsement. A 2020 study of 3,000 American adults found that political identities were the strongest predictors of personal health behaviors in the COVID-19 pandemic [6]. Conformity may be a powerful motivator and further research should be done on other factors that may be stronger than political identity
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
