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COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among Social Media Users: A Content Analysis, Multi-Continent Study

Author

Listed:
  • Ramy Shaaban

    (Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84321, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Ramy Mohamed Ghazy

    (Tropical Health Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21561, Egypt
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Fawzia Elsherif

    (Epidemiology Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21561, Egypt)

  • Nancy Ali

    (Department of Communications Media, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA 15705, USA)

  • Youssef Yakoub

    (Department of Communications Media, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA 15705, USA)

  • Maged Osama Aly

    (Nutrition Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21561, Egypt)

  • Rony ElMakhzangy

    (Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21545, Egypt)

  • Marwa Shawky Abdou

    (Epidemiology Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21561, Egypt)

  • Bonny McKinna

    (Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

  • Amira Mohamed Elzorkany

    (Training and Biostatistics Administration, Ministry of Health and Population, Alexandria 21561, Egypt)

  • Fatimah Abdullah

    (Internal Medicine Department, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21526, Egypt)

  • Amr Alnagar

    (General Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21561, Egypt)

  • Nashwa ElTaweel

    (University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire, Coventry CV2 2DX, UK)

  • Majed Alharthi

    (Faculty of Communication and Media, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 22254, Saudi Arabia)

  • Ali Mohsin

    (Biomedical Engineering Department, Collage of Engineering, Wraith Al-Anbiyaa University, Karbala 56001, Iraq)

  • Ana Ordóñez-Cruickshank

    (Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

  • Bianca Toniolo

    (LabCom Research Unit, University of Beira Interior, Foundation for Science and Technology, 6201-001 Covilha, Portugal)

  • Tâmela Grafolin

    (LabCom Research Unit, University of Beira Interior, Foundation for Science and Technology, 6201-001 Covilha, Portugal)

  • Thit Thit Aye

    (Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany)

  • Yong Zhin Goh

    (Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

  • Ehsan Akram Deghidy

    (Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Statistics, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21526, Egypt)

  • Siti Bahri

    (Pharmacy Department, Rompin Hospital, Ministry of Health Malaysia, 62590 Putrajaya, Malaysia)

  • Jarntrah Sappayabanphot

    (Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand)

  • Yasir Ahmed Mohammed Elhadi

    (Department of Public Health, Medical Research Office, Sudanese Medical Research Association, Khartoum 11111, Sudan)

  • Salma Mohammed

    (Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden)

  • Ahmed Nour El-Deen

    (Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Assiut 71524, Egypt)

  • Ismail Ismail

    (Department of Neurology, Ibn Sina Hospital, Safat, Kuwait City 13115, Kuwait)

  • Samar Abd ElHafeez

    (Epidemiology Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21561, Egypt)

  • Iffat Elbarazi

    (Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates)

  • Basema Saddik

    (College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates)

  • Ziad El-Khatib

    (Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 17176 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Hiba Mohsin

    (College of Pharmacy, Al-Zahraa University for Women, Karbala 56001, Iraq)

  • Ahmed Kamal

    (Hepatology Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21131, Egypt)

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy (VH) is defined as a delayed in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services. This multinational study examined user interaction with social media about COVID-19 vaccination. The study analyzed social media comments in 24 countries from five continents. In total, 5856 responses were analyzed; 83.5% of comments were from Facebook, while 16.5% were from Twitter. In Facebook, the overall vaccine acceptance was 40.3%; the lowest acceptance rates were evident in Jordan (8.5%), Oman (15.0%), Senegal (20.0%) and Morocco (20.7%) and the continental acceptance rate was the lowest in North America 22.6%. In Twitter, the overall acceptance rate was (41.5%); the lowest acceptance rate was found in Oman (14.3%), followed by USA (20.5%), and UK (23.3%) and the continental acceptance rate was the lowest in North America (20.5%), and Europe (29.7%). The differences in vaccine acceptance across countries and continents in Facebook and Twitter were statistically significant. Regarding the tone of the comments, in Facebook, countries that had the highest number of serious tone comments were Sweden (90.9%), USA (61.3%), and Thailand (58.8%). At continent level, serious comments were the highest in Asia (58.4%), followed by Africa (46.2%) and South America (46.2%). In Twitter, the highest serious tone was reported in Egypt (72.2%) while at continental level, the highest proportion of serious comments was observed in Asia (59.7%), followed by Europe (46.5%). The differences in tone across countries and continents in Facebook and Twitter and were statistically significant. There was a significant association between the tone and the position of comments. We concluded that the overall vaccine acceptance in social media was relatively low and varied across the studied countries and continents. Consequently, more in-depth studies are required to address causes of such VH and combat infodemics.

Suggested Citation

  • Ramy Shaaban & Ramy Mohamed Ghazy & Fawzia Elsherif & Nancy Ali & Youssef Yakoub & Maged Osama Aly & Rony ElMakhzangy & Marwa Shawky Abdou & Bonny McKinna & Amira Mohamed Elzorkany & Fatimah Abdullah , 2022. "COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among Social Media Users: A Content Analysis, Multi-Continent Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-14, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5737-:d:811146
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christie Aschwanden, 2021. "Five reasons why COVID herd immunity is probably impossible," Nature, Nature, vol. 591(7851), pages 520-522, March.
    2. Josh Bullock & Justin E. Lane & F. LeRon Shults, 2022. "What causes COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy? Ignorance and the lack of bliss in the United Kingdom," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    3. Christie Aschwanden, 2020. "The false promise of herd immunity for COVID-19," Nature, Nature, vol. 587(7832), pages 26-28, November.
    4. Philip Ball & Amy Maxmen, 2020. "The epic battle against coronavirus misinformation and conspiracy theories," Nature, Nature, vol. 581(7809), pages 371-374, May.
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