Efficacy information influences intention to take COVID-19 vaccine

Objectives

A successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic requires achievinghigh levels of vaccine uptake. We tested whether directly contrasting the highefficacy of COVID-19 vaccines with the lower efficacy of the annual flu vaccinewould increase intentions to take a COVID-19 vaccine.

Design

A pre-registered online study of 481 participants compared fourinformation conditions: a) No Information, b) COVID-19 Vaccine InformationOnly, and COVID-19 Vaccine Information combined with Flu Vaccine Informationsuggesting either c) 60% efficacy or d) 40% efficacy; we measured COVID-19 andflu vaccine intentions along with several other vaccine-related variables.

Methods

The Prolific platform was used to recruit 481 UK participants (64%female; aged between 18 and 85 years) who had been pre-screened to haveintermediate levels of vaccine hesitancy. After reading a short text (~200words) about COVID-19 vaccines participants were asked about their vaccinationintentions.

Results Providing information about thesafety and efficacy of the new COVID-19 vaccines resulted in vaccinationintentions that were significantly higher than those in the No Informationcondition; providing the same COVID vaccine efficacy information in the contextof information about flu vaccine efficacy resulted in a further significantincrease in vaccination intentions. This positive contrast effect for theCOVID-19 vaccine was not associated with reduced flu vaccine intentions.

Conclusions

Vaccination intentions can be strengthened through a simplemessaging intervention that utilises context effects to increase perceivedresponse efficacy.

 

@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;mso-font-alt:Calibri;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:swiss;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0cm;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-link:"Body Text Char";margin-top:9.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-indent:34.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}span.BodyTextChar{mso-style-name:"Body Text Char";mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-locked:yes;mso-style-link:"Body Text";font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;}p.FirstParagraph, li.FirstParagraph, div.FirstParagraph{mso-style-name:"First Paragraph";mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"Body Text";mso-style-next:"Body Text";margin-top:9.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-indent:34.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}