JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to more than 96 million COVID-19 cases and over 1 million COVID-19 deaths in the United States (U.S.) alone as of October 12, 2022. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched the We Can Do This Public Education Campaign (the Campaign) in April 2021 to increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence (the likelihood of vaccination) and, ultimately, vaccine uptake. This evaluation serves as an assessment of the effect of the Campaign's digital media dose on vaccine uptake.

Objective:

To assess the association between COVID-19 public education campaign digital impressions and the likelihood of first-dose COVID-19 vaccination among U.S. adults.

Methods:

A nationally representative sample of 3,642 adults recruited from a U.S. probability panel was surveyed over three waves (W1: January–February 2021; W2: May–June 2021; W3: September–November 2021) regarding COVID-19 vaccination, vaccine confidence, and sociodemographics. Survey data were merged with weekly paid digital campaign impressions delivered to each respondent’s media market (designated market area [DMA]) during that period. The unit of analysis was the survey respondent–broadcast week, with respondents nested by DMA. Data were analyzed using a multilevel logit model with varying intercepts by DMA and time-fixed effects.

Results:

Increases in DMA-level paid digital campaign impressions in a given week from 30,000 to 30,000 increased the likelihood of first-dose COVID 19 vaccination by 125%.

Conclusions:

Results provide initial evidence of a relationship between the COVID-19 public education campaign digital component and COVID-19 vaccination uptake among U.S. adults. Digital COVID-19 vaccination public education campaigns play an important role in the COVID-19 pandemic response.