Date of Completion
2022
Document Type
Research Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Medicine
Keywords
COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; SARS-CoV-2; vaccine hesitancy; hesitancy; social media; Facebook; conspiracy; misinformation; mainstream media; public health; Philippines; community
Abstract
Background. Misinformation and disinformation are impeding the success of achieving herd immunity. With social media being one of the main sources for the cause of vaccine hesitancy, its role must be studied for it to be addressed and realize the “new normal”.
Objective. In this paper, we look into if there is a relationship between social media influence from Facebook and COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy.
Methods. A computed sample size of [80] and [109] participants were conveniently sampled among adult residents of two select gated-communities in the Greater Manila Area. We utilized a four-part questionnaire to determine the participants’ sociodemographic factors, length of time browsing COVID-19 vaccine information on Facebook, exposure to positive and/or negative discourse on select vaccine brands, exposure to certain news sources, level of trust for COVID-19 vaccine information on Facebook, and level of vaccine hesitancy. The results obtained were interpreted using multiple regression analysis.
Results. Out of 195 respondents, we found that those who spend more hours on social media tend to have higher level of vaccine hesitancy. Education seems to have an ambiguous effect, as even those with undergraduate or postgraduate degree did not have any statistical significance for “curing” vaccine hesitancy. Among the listed vaccines, Sinovac is the least preferred and it is attributed more to its country of origin followed by its side effects and perceived low efficacy. The trusted source of information of the respondent showed that those who trust in government pages or in international organizations tend to have the lowest vaccine hesitancy, whereas those who get their information from non-established news pages have the highest level of vaccine hesitancy
Conclusion. There is a significant relationship between Facebook use and COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy. In addition, the level of vaccine hesitancy is further influenced depending on the amount of hours spent on social media and the respondent’s main source of information on COVID-19 vaccines.
APA Citation
Vargas, M. P., Buhawe, A. R., Calinisan, A. S., Caparanga, F. O., Enriquez, K. S., Hebreo, N., Pascual, M. B., Ramos, L. M., Ridad, L. N., San Pedro, L. P., Tiongson, B. V., & Yohanon, J. A. (2022). Relationship between Covid-19 vaccination hesitancy and social media influence from Facebook among adult residents of select gated-communities in the greater Manila area. [Research output, De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute]. GreenPrints. https://greenprints.dlshsi.edu.ph/commed/894