People's Willingness to Vaccinate Against COVID-19 Despite Their Safety Concerns: Twitter Poll Analysis.
Fabian EibensteinerValentin RitschlFaisal A NawazSajjad S FazelChristos TsagkarisStefan Tino KulnikRik CrutzenElisabeth KlagerSabine Völkl-KernstockEva SchadenMaria Kletecka-PulkerHarald WillschkeAtanas Georgiev AtanasovPublished in: Journal of medical Internet research (2021)
In contrast to the perceived high level of uncertainty about the safety of the available COVID-19 vaccines, we observed an elevated willingness to undergo vaccination among our study sample. Since people's perceptions and views are strongly influenced by social media, the snapshots provided by these media platforms represent a static image of a moving target. Thus, the results of this study need to be followed up by long-term surveys to maintain their validity. This is especially relevant due to the circumstances of the fast-paced pandemic and the need to not miss sudden rises in the incidence of vaccine hesitancy, which may have detrimental effects on the pandemic's course.