Vaccine Hesitancy towards COVID-19 Vaccination: Investigating the Role of Information Sources through a Mediation Analysis

• Main Authors: Chiara Reno (Author), Elisa Maietti (Author), Zeno Di Valerio (Author), Marco Montalti (Author), Maria Pia Fantini (Author), Davide Gori (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2021-08-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/idr13030066; 2036-7449
• Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; pandemic; social media; mediation analysis; structural equation modelling; Other systems of medicine; RZ201-999
• Source: Infectious Disease Reports, Vol 13, Iss 3, Pp 712-723 (2021)

Mass vaccination campaigns have been implemented worldwide to counteract the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic, however their effectiveness could be challenged by vaccine hesitancy. The tremendous rise in the use of social media have made them acquire a leading role as an information source, thus representing a crucial factor at play that could contribute to increase or mitigate vaccine hesitancy, as information sources play a pivotal role in shaping public opinion and perceptions. The aims of the study were to investigate if information sources could affect the attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination and if they could act as a mediator in the relationship between individual characteristics and vaccine hesitancy. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted by a professional panellist on a representative sample of 1011 citizens from the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy in January 2021. A mediation analysis using structural equation modelling was performed. Our results show how social media directly or indirectly increases vaccine hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccination, while the opposite effect was observed for institutional websites. Given the global widespread use of social media, their use should be enhanced to disseminate scientifically sound information to a greater audience to counteract vaccine hesitancy, while at the same time continuing to promote and update institutional websites that have proven to be effective in reducing vaccine hesitancy.