Prevalence of infodemic as a factor affecting COVID-19 vaccination acceptance: Literature survey and monitoring in Nigeria

Abstract

Accelerated production of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) vaccines restore hope in the fight against the infection however, vaccination rejection persisted globally due to infodemic. This is because infodemic of COVID-19 vaccine brought about fake news; deception and misinformation that influence vaccine refusal and that has play a major role in decreasing the vaccination uptake among the general public. World health organization (WHO) viewed infodemic challenges as a top ten global threat to vaccination success as vaccine misreporting has kept trending in all media including social media, print, news releases, websites, etc. It is for the above reasons that the paper explored prevalence of infodemic as a factor affecting COVID-19 vaccination acceptance: literature survey and monitoring in Nigeria. This paper highlighted the concept of infodemic on COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. To achieve the main purpose of the study, the paper cross-examines infodemic as factor affecting COVID-19 vaccination acceptance in Nigeria and proffer solutions towards infodemic challenges and monitoring. The study concludes that effective information flow and monitoring toward successful vaccination be designed to combat infodemic in Nigeria. The study recommended that advanced information management technology be deployed for health workers just like in other develop countries as COVID-19 disease is universal crisis, centralized information management sharing be provided to prevent unacceptable and doctored information, public should be guided by health authorities and practitioners through education, sensitization and campaigns, provision of independent integrated platform for data-sharing and management to overcome the infodemic among others.