Opportunities for utilizing new technologies to increase vaccine confidence

Abstract

The emergence of new digital technologies has ‘disrupted’ traditional vaccine information communication. This article reviews the impact of the Internet, social media, digital detection and mobile applications on both fueling anti-vaccine sentiment and providing a mechanism by which to address vaccine hesitancy. While the anti-vaccine community has leveraged the Internet and social media to bypass traditional sources of information and communicate with susceptible parents, digital surveillance and mobile apps offer an important opportunity for public health officials to develop new strategies to identify and address concerns in a real-time manner.

Keywords::

• digital surveillance
• mobile apps
• technology
• vaccine
• vaccine confidence

Financial & competing interests disclosure

K Wilson co-developed and released ImmunizeON independently and ImmunizeCA for the Canadian Public Health Association. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Key issues

• Vaccine confidence runs on a continuum. Those who fall in between the extremes of anti- and pro-vaccinationism are most susceptible to having their views on vaccination altered.

• The Internet and social media have allowed anti-vaccination advocates to disseminate their messages to a broader audience and directly communicate with individuals whose views on vaccination are most susceptible to change.

• The advent of digital detection strategies provides an opportunity for public health authorities to monitor vaccine hesitancy in real time. The approaches permit geographical detection of changes in vaccine sentiment and the reasons for vaccine hesitancy.

• Identification of public concerns in real time using digital detection can facilitate early engagement with the public to ensure sustained confidence in vaccines and immunization.

• Mobile applications provide a potential direct channel to communicate with individuals about vaccination. Messaging though mobile devices and applications can be regionally targeted through geo-fencing with messages tailored for the concerns that are specific to that region.

• Any ‘direct to consumer’ messaging strategy must be respectful of individuals’ perceptions of privacy or it could be counterproductive.

• Technology is dynamic. We favor the rapid introduction of novel strategies that leverage new technologies to improve vaccine confidence and then iterate based on feedback and evaluation of the early experience.