Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2020
Date Accepted: Dec 24, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: Jan 5, 2021
Unfolding determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in China:
ABSTRACT
Background:
China is at the forefront of global efforts to develop COVID-19 vaccines and has five fast-tracked candidates in the final-stage, large scale human clinical trials tests. Layered on top of public engagement, making an informed and judicious choice is a catch-22 for the Chinese government in the context of COVID-19 vaccination promotion.
Objective:
In this study, public opinions in China are analyzed via public dialogues on Chinese social media, based on which the views on COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination of Chinese netizens are investigated. We recommend strategies for promoting vaccination programs in the most populous country based on in-depth understanding of the challenges in risk communication and social mobilizations.
Methods:
We proposed a novel emotional dynamics model SRS/I to analyze the opinion transmission paradigms on Chinese social media. Coupled with meta-analysis and natural language processing (NLP) techniques, the emotion polarity of individual opinion is examined in contexts.
Results:
We collected more than 1.75 million Weibo messages about COVID-19 vaccines from January to October in 2020. According to the public opinion reproduction ratio (R_0), the dynamic propagation of those messages can be classified into three-stage: the Ferment period (R_0,1.1360), the Evolution period (R_0, 2.8278) and the Transmission period (R_0, 3.0729). Significantly, the topics on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in China are emerging from the landscape of public opinion transmission, such as Price, side effects, and the like. From September to October, 18.3% people held the idea that the vaccine price is high and gets 38.1% “likes,” while 35.9% people regarded it as inexpensive with 25.0% “likes.” The netizen’s emotional polarity on side effects is also the aspect of our research. We got 47.7% positive and 31.9% negative comments. We also captured that the inactivated vaccines aroused much more heated discussion than any other type of vaccine. It accounts for 53% of Discussions of all types’ vaccines, 42% of Forwards, 56% of Comments, and 49% of Likes.
Conclusions:
Most Chinese hold that the vaccine is cheaper than previously thought, while some claim they could not afford it for their entire family. The Chinese are inclined to be positive to side effects over time and proud of China’s development regarding vaccines. Nevertheless, they have a collective misunderstanding about inactivated vaccines, insisting that inactivated vaccines are safer than other vaccines. Reflecting on those collective responses, the unfolding determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance provide illuminating benchmarks for vaccine-promoting policy-makings.
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