JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Vaccine hesitancy during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was exacerbated by an "infodemic" of conflating accurate and inaccurate information with divergent political messages, leading to varying adherence to health-related behaviors.

Objective:

This study explored individuals’ decision-making processes in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine with a specific focus on media outlet usage and political orientation.

Methods:

An Internet survey with questions on media outlet usage, political affiliation, presidential candidate choice, and multiple Likert-type agreement scale questions on conceptions of the vaccine was used.

Results:

The sample consisted of 1,757 respondents, with 89.58% of them choosing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Liberal/Democrat media consumption and political preference was associated with increased odds of choosing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Respondents who chose the vaccine agreed more strongly on their belief in the safety and efficacy of vaccines, the influence of their personal beliefs, and the encouragement and positive experiences of family and friends. Though most respondents rated their personal relationship with their physician to be good, this factor did not correlate with differences in vaccine decision. Those employed part-time and the unemployed were at greater odds of choosing the vaccine than those employed full-time. Increase in age was also associated with greater vaccine uptake.

Conclusions:

While multiple factors are involved, the role of mass media in shaping attitudes toward vaccines cannot be ignored. Surprisingly, the role of the personal physician in this decision may be less important than expected. In the era of information overload, effective communication is critical in ensuring the dissemination of accurate and reliable information to optimize the vaccination decision-making process.