Associations Between Social Media Engagement and Vaccine Hesitancy

There has been a surge in vaccine hesitancy following the Coronavirus pandemic. This study measured the prevalence of and identified factors associated with vaccine hesitancy and social media use. An online survey was administered (n = 1050) between May and July 2021. Chi-square tests were used to examine bivariate associations with vaccine hesitancy (partially vaccinated and unvaccinated participants). Logistic regression was used to identify associations between social media use and vaccine hesitancy. Chi-square tests showed women (69.7% vs 28.2% men, p(adjusted) = .002), African American participants (52.3% vs 17.8% white, p(adjusted) < .001), high school diploma (54.4% vs 38.6% college degree, p(adjusted) < .001), political unaffiliated (15.8% vs 14.5% republican, p(adjusted) < .001), Muslim (10.0% vs 0% Jewish, p(adjusted) < .001), and never married/single (53.9% vs 17.0% married, p(adjusted) < .001) were more likely to be vaccine hesitant. Controlling for all demographic variables (age, race, gender, and education), more frequent use of social media for reading news was associated with lower vaccine hesitancy (OR 0.35, 99% CI 0.20, 0.63, p < 0.001). However, using social media as a source of vaccine information without any other trusted source (health department, doctor, CDC,) was associated with higher odds of being vaccine hesitant (OR 2.00, 99% CI 1.15, 3.46, p = 0.001). People who use social media without referencing trusted sources may be particularly vulnerable to disinformation or vaccine hesitant persons are more likely exposed to non-trusted social media sites as their only information source.

Automated summary

This study found that factors such as gender, race, education level, political affiliation, marital status, and religious background were associated with vaccine hesitancy. Frequent use of social media for reading news was associated with lower vaccine hesitancy, while relying solely on social media for vaccine information without other trusted sources was associated with higher vaccine hesitancy.