Primary Source of Information About COVID-19 as a Determinant of Perception of COVID-19 Severity and Vaccine Uptake : Source of Information and COVID-19.

Abstract

Identifying the key determinants of vaccine uptake in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is critical to increasing vaccination rates, especially for Medicare beneficiaries. We examined how the source of COVID-19 information shapes perceptions of COVID-19 severity and the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Medicare beneficiaries. We included 6478 Medicare beneficiaries from the Fall 2020 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey COVID-19 Supplement. Our dependent variables were perception of COVID-19 severity and the likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Our key independent variable was the beneficiaries' primary source of information about COVID-19 and included six mutually exclusive categories: traditional news sources, guidance from government officials, social media, other webpages/Internet, friends or family members, or health care providers. Compared to those relying on traditional news sources or guidance from governmental officials, those relying on other sources had lower perceptions of COVID-19 severity and lower likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Those relying on social media had the lowest levels in all measures (65.5% for those who agreed that COVID-19 is more contagious than the flu, 62.1% for those who agreed that COVID-19 is more deadly than the flu, 87.8% for those who agreed that all should take COVID-19 precautions, and 43.3% for those who answered that they would get a COVID-19 vaccine). The likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine uptake was also low among those relying on health care providers (55.5%). These findings remained similar even after adjusting for perceptions of COVID-19 severity in the relationship between the source of COVID-19 information and the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine uptake. The primary source of information that Medicare beneficiaries used to learn about COVID-19 may play a critical role in shaping perceptions of COVID-19 severity and attitudes toward getting a COVID-19 vaccine.