As the masks start coming off, how can organizations continue to encourage people to accept the COVID-19 vaccine? The Washington Post recently reported, “in an intensely polarized nation, many people have little faith that their maskless fellow Americans have actually been vaccinated. That lack of trust, fueled by the ongoing politicization of the pandemic, tears at the fabric of a public-health strategy built on the assumption that other people will do the right thing.”
You are in a trusted position to continue driving COVID-19 vaccinations by helping breakdown barriers one by one. Whether working with Welltok or on your own, here are factors to consider when looking at who may need additional information or motivation to get the shot based on our rich data sets and other vaccine campaigns.
Historical compliance strongly correlates with intent to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The converse is also true…if people don’t typically get the flu vaccine, they are less likely to get the COVID-19 vaccine. From a recent consumer survey we conducted about the COVID-19 vaccine:
- 60% of Americans say they got the flu shot this year
- 82% of people who were immunized for influenza this year intend to get the COVID-19 vaccine
- 51% of people who did NOT get the flu shot this year intend to get the COVID-19 vaccine
There are shared factors among people who hesitate to get vaccines.
The factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy generally mirror those for flu, pneumonia and tetanus vaccines, including:
- Vaccine-related features such as number of doses, scheduling time off to get the vaccine (i.e., convenient access), and side effects
- Political factors
- Vaccine-related beliefs such as safety, time to develop (compared to other vaccines and drugs), and lack of confidence in its effectiveness
Predictive models based on other vaccines can help identify who is likely to be hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Here are some insights from our existing vaccine hesitancy models:
- Younger people or those with incomes between $35-50K are less likely to get the vaccine
- People who smoke, households with children, people who have donated, or those who have purchased personal care items (possibly due to convenient access to a vaccine while they are in a retail location) are more likely to be vaccinated
Predictive analytics can also help you more effectively reach hesitant individuals.
Our models can also optimize your COVID-19 vaccine educational and awareness campaigns by indicating:
- How people want to hear from you (i.e., email, text, direct mail, etc.)
- Who will be most likely to respond and take action based on your outreach
Virgin Pulse can help
We can help you drive up to 55% more vaccinations among your population. We can predict with high accuracy who is vaccine hesitant and engage a high percentage of them using multiple channels to boost trust in the COVID-19 vaccine.