Publication: Reducing COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy with Social and Behavior Change Communication Strategies on Social Media
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2025-05-20
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2025-05-20
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The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted daily life and exacerbated global inequalities, leading policymakers to seek innovative, evidence-based solutions to mitigate its impacts. By March 2023, the pandemic had resulted in approximately 6.88 million reported deaths and 14.83 million excess deaths globally. The development and approval of COVID-19 vaccines changed the pandemic’s trajectory, but disparities in vaccine supply and demand led to persistent global vaccine coverage inequalities. Vaccine hesitancy, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), was a major driver of these disparities. To address vaccine hesitancy, the Alliance for Health Online (AHO) and the World Bank’s Mind, Behavior, and Development (eMBeD) Unit within Development Impact (DIME) developed a global research program leveraging social media and behavioral science. This program aimed to diagnose barriers to vaccine uptake, identify effective behaviorally informed communications, and develop public goods to support while introducing innovative approaches such as chatbot functionality and fostering partnerships with the private sector
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“World Bank. 2025. Reducing COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy with Social and Behavior Change Communication Strategies on Social Media. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43220 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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