How Media Literacy, Trust of Experts and Flu Vaccine Behaviors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Intentions.

PURPOSE

To assess how previous experiences and new information contributed to COVID-19 vaccine intentions.

DESIGN

Online survey (N = 1264) with quality checks.

SETTING

Cross-sectional U.S. survey fielded June 22-July 18, 2020.

SAMPLE

U.S. residents 18+; quotas reflecting U.S. Census, limited to English speakers participating in internet panels.

MEASURES

Media literacy for news content and sources, COVID-19 knowledge; perceived usefulness of health experts; if received flu vaccine in past 12 months; vaccine willingness scale; demographics.

ANALYSIS

Structural equation modelling.

RESULTS

Perceived usefulness of health experts ( = .422, < .001) and media literacy ( = .162, < .003) predicted most variance in vaccine intentions (R-squared=31.5%). A significant interaction ( = .163, < .001) between knowledge ( = -.132, = .052) and getting flu shot ( = .185, < .001) predicted additional 3.5% of the variance in future vaccine intentions. An increase in knowledge of COVID-19 associated with a decrease in vaccine intention among those declining the flu shot.

CONCLUSION

The interaction result suggests COVID-19 knowledge had a positive association with vaccine intention for flu shot recipients but a counter-productive association for those declining it. Media literacy and trust in health experts provided strong counterbalancing influences. Survey-based findings are correlational; thus, predictions are based on theory. Future research should study these relationships with panel data or experimental designs.