Quantifying the rise of vaccine opposition on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quantifying the rise of vaccine opposition on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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DOI：
10.1080/17538068.2020.1858222
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发表时间：
2021-01-01
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Smyser, Joseph
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bonnevie, Erika;Gallegos-Jeffrey, Allison;Smyser, Joseph
背景：新冠肺炎大流行对全球健康构成严重威胁，目前正在进行史无前例的研究工作，以提供有效的新冠肺炎疫苗。然而，一场越来越响亮的运动有可能侵蚀人们对疫苗接种的支持。这项研究调查了推特上反对接种疫苗的变化。方法：搜索查询收集与疫苗反对相关的公开可用Twitter帖子，并将帖子归类为主题。程序员比较了新冠肺炎在美国传播之前的四个月(2019年10月15日至2020年2月14日)与随后四个月(2020年2月15日至2020年6月14日)的社区传播期间的对话。结果：在不同的时间段，推特上的疫苗反对者增加了80%。在不同时期确定和跟踪了12个对话主题，观察到关于新冠肺炎、联邦卫生当局、疫苗成分和研究/临床试验的对话百分比有所上升。结论：这项研究量化了推特上疫苗反对者的增加，表明疫苗反对者正在煽动对新冠肺炎疫苗的反对，并鼓励人们对卫生当局的不信任。疫苗信念是一个光谱，支持和反对作为一个范围存在。暴露在疫苗反对量增加的环境中，可能会鼓励那些对疫苗犹豫不决或对疫苗有疑问的人转向反对者，这可能会在未来几十年对人口层面的健康产生巨大影响。为了确保新冠肺炎疫苗获得最广泛的支持，重要的是识别和解决疫苗反对者使用的信息。
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious threat to global health and there is currently an unprecedented research effort to deliver an effective COVID-19 vaccine. Yet an increasingly vocal movement has the potential to erode support in vaccination. This study examined shifts in vaccine opposition on Twitter. Methods: A search query collected publicly available Twitter posts related to vaccine opposition and posts were categorized into themes. Coders compared conversation during the four months before COVID-19 spread in the United States (10/15/2019 to 2/14/2020) to four subsequent months (2/15/2020 to 6/14/2020) of community spread. Results: Across time periods, vaccine opposition on Twitter increased by 80%. Twelve conversation themes were identified and tracked across time periods, with increases observed in percentage of conversation about COVID-19, federal health authorities, vaccine ingredients, and research/clinical trials. Conclusions: This study quantified the increase in vaccine opposition on Twitter and suggests that vaccine opponents are fomenting opposition toward a COVID-19 vaccine and encouraging mistrust in health authorities. Vaccine beliefs are a spectrum, with support and opposition existing as a range. Exposure to these increased amounts of vaccine opposition may encourage those who are vaccine hesitant or have questions about vaccines to move toward opposition, which could have drastic health impacts at a population level for decades to come. To ensure the widest support for a COVID-19 vaccine, it is important to identify and address the messages used by vaccine opponents.