Social networks and COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy in Mexican older adults

Abstract

Introduction: The importance of social networks is growing, impacting everyday life. At this stage of global COVID-19 vaccination roll-out, hesitancy to get immunized is slowing this process; it is thought that this decision could be impacted by information shared on social networks. Objective: Determine whether the use of social networks is associated with the willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of the ENSANUT COVID-19 study, that measures the impact of the pandemic on the Mexican population. Only older adults, aged 65 years or older, were included in this work. Face to face interviews were performed to determine social network utilization, willingness to get vaccinated, and socio-demographic information on health and COVID-19. Bivariate analysis and logistic regression were performed. Results: From a total of 1,490 older adults, 59.3 % were women whose mean age was 73.5 (SD 6.8), and 53.3% (n = 795) were willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine when available. In an adjusted multivariate logistic regression model, WhatsApp was found to be a significant variable related to lower risk of vaccine hesitancy (OR 0.43, 95% CI, 0.2–0.85; p = 0.016). Other variables related to vaccine hesitancy were being a woman (OR 1.58, 95% CI, 2–1.23; p < 0.001) and COVID-19 literacy (OR 1.32, 95% CI, 1.01–1.74; p = 0.047). Conclusion: The use of social networks such as WhatsApp is a factor that can influence older adult vaccination against COVID-19. Social networks, among other variables, should be taken into account when analyzing factors that lead to vaccination hesitancy in older adults.