Social Media Interventions Strengthened COVID-19 Immunization Campaign.

BACKGROUND

Since The Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) has recommended the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty in children aged 5-11, the immunization campaign faced vaccine hesitancy in parents. Social media are emerging as leading information source that could play a significant role to counteract vaccine hesitancy, influencing parents' opinions and perceptions. Our aim was to evaluate the coverage of the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty in a cohort of children aged 5-11 whose families have been counseled to use Social Media to counteract vaccine hesitancy.

METHODS

All parents of children aged 5-11 in a primary care setting were instructed by their pediatrician to get accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccine from a page. Active calls to vaccinate children were also scheduled through messaging services and . Vaccination rates of children in the study were assessed with an electronic database and compared to both regional and national child vaccination rates.

RESULTS

Coverage of 277 children aged 5-11 was analyzed from 16 December 2021 to 31 January 2022. A total of 62.4% (173/277) of enrolled children received the 1st dose of COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and 39.7% (110/277) the 2nd dose. Coverage rates were higher compared both to the regional population (1st dose: 48.8%, 2nd dose: 24.6%; = 0.001) and national population (1st dose: 32.1%, 2nd dose: 13.8%; < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Increasing vaccine confidence using Social Media interventions have a positive impact on vaccination acceptance of parents.