Bhagavathula Akshaya Srikanth, Daglis Theodoros, Chattu Vijay Kumar
Department of Public Health, College of Health and Human Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA.
University of the Aegean, 841 00 Syros, Greece; Agricultural University of Athens, 118 55 Athens, Greece; Technical University of Crete, 731 00 Chania, Greece.
Health Promot Perspect. 2024 Oct 31;14(3):304-311. doi: 10.34172/hpp.43117. eCollection 2024.
The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines may have raised public concerns about their safety and side effects in the United States (US). This study aimed to assess trends in online searches related to the safety and side effects of COVID-19 vaccines in the US from 2021-2022.
Google COVID-19 Vaccination Search Insights was used to analyze searches about COVID-19 vaccine safety and side effects in the US from January 4, 2021, to November 21, 2022 (98 weeks). Data were scaled from 0 (low interest) to 100 (high interest) as a fixed scaling factor called scaled normalized interest (SNI) to indicate relative search interest over time and by location. A joinpoint regression analysis was used to determine the search trends during the study period.
Analysis included 709 counties across 38 US states. Searches of COVID-19 vaccine safety and side effects peaked in April 2021 in the District of Columbia (SNI: 35.8), Massachusetts (29.7), New Hampshire (27.4), Connecticut (27.3), and Maine (26.7), then decreased significantly by an average monthly percentage change (AMPC) of -16.6% (95% CI -19.9 to -13.3) until July 2022. Overall AMPC from January 2021 to November 2022 was -8.9% (95% CI -16.2 to -0.9; P<0.001).
Online searches related to COVID-19 vaccine safety and side effects decreased dramatically over time, supporting the utility of digital surveillance to track real-time vaccine safety concerns. This study provides insights into public interest in COVID-19 vaccine risks and can help monitor potential safety issues.
2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫苗的迅速发展可能引发了美国公众对其安全性和副作用的担忧。本研究旨在评估2021年至2022年美国与COVID-19疫苗安全性和副作用相关的在线搜索趋势。
使用谷歌COVID-19疫苗接种搜索洞察工具，分析2021年1月4日至2022年11月21日（98周）期间美国关于COVID-19疫苗安全性和副作用的搜索情况。数据按0（低关注度）至100（高关注度）进行缩放，作为一个固定的缩放因子，称为缩放归一化关注度（SNI），以表明随时间和地点的相对搜索关注度。采用连接点回归分析来确定研究期间的搜索趋势。
分析涵盖美国38个州的709个县。哥伦比亚特区（SNI：35.8）、马萨诸塞州（29.7）、新罕布什尔州（27.4）、康涅狄格州（27.3）和缅因州（26.7）对COVID-19疫苗安全性和副作用的搜索在2021年4月达到峰值，随后显著下降，平均每月百分比变化（AMPC）为-16.6%（95%CI -19.9至-13.3），直至2022年7月。2021年1月至2022年11月的总体AMPC为-8.9%（95%CI -16.2至-0.9；P<0.001）。
随着时间的推移，与COVID-19疫苗安全性和副作用相关的在线搜索大幅减少，这支持了数字监测在跟踪实时疫苗安全问题方面的效用。本研究深入了解了公众对COVID-19疫苗风险的关注，并有助于监测潜在的安全问题。
