About this Research Topic
Vaccine and vaccination communication are among the most important topics in health communication. Researchers and clinicians communicate the protective effectiveness of the newly developed vaccines and provide evidence for their safety. Policy makers communicate evidence-based vaccine-related policies and strategies. Health promoters communicate the individual groups and mass vaccination programs. In addition to expert communication, friends and family members, as well as trusted community members are also drivers of vaccination related decision-making. Media are frequently referred to as friends and foes in vaccine and vaccination communication. The social media-led COVID-19 misinformation infodemic, including on vaccine-related risks, has been rampant. Both historical and contemporary mistrust of vaccine and vaccination communication challenged the successful implementation of COVID-19 vaccination programs in many countries. Vaccine and vaccination communication strategies and approaches to vaccine-related media message framing adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic remain one of the emerging research topics.
The aim of this Research Topic is to explore COVID-19 related vaccine and vaccination communication from a variety of perspectives in order to inform public policy and develop effective communication strategies. In particular, we encourage submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Communication of novelty, safety, compliance, and distribution of vaccines
• Communication of vaccine effectiveness, side effects, and risks
• Communication of choice, rights and responsibilities in relation to vaccination
• Communication of eligibility, availability, and access to vaccines
• Various perspectives related to vaccine and vaccination communication
• Diversity issues in vaccine communication
• Vaccine communication, health literacy, and digital health literacy
• Communication approaches to vaccine-hesitant individuals and groups
• The use of behavioural theories in vaccine and vaccination communication
• Psychological issues in vaccine communication, including fear, anger, anxiety, disbelief, trust/lack of, the locus of control, the lack of vaccine confidence, and other
• Vaccine communication strategies for building confidence and trust
• Vaccine-related communication between researchers and policy makers
• The role of proactive communication in vaccination success
Manuscripts which suggest how to improve vaccine and vaccination communication will be prioritized. While we primarily focus on COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination communication, we will be happy to consider and include manuscripts that focus on vaccine communication related to other illnesses.
We welcome contributions that present original empirical research, theoretical analyses, scoping and systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and research-grounded perspectives. We encourage multidisciplinary scholarly contributions that come from diverse disciplines, including health communication, media studies, public health, health promotion, health and social psychology, behavioral medicine, and medical anthropology.
The aim of this Research Topic is to explore COVID-19 related vaccine and vaccination communication from a variety of perspectives in order to inform public policy and develop effective communication strategies. In particular, we encourage submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Communication of novelty, safety, compliance, and distribution of vaccines
• Communication of vaccine effectiveness, side effects, and risks
• Communication of choice, rights and responsibilities in relation to vaccination
• Communication of eligibility, availability, and access to vaccines
• Various perspectives related to vaccine and vaccination communication
• Diversity issues in vaccine communication
• Vaccine communication, health literacy, and digital health literacy
• Communication approaches to vaccine-hesitant individuals and groups
• The use of behavioural theories in vaccine and vaccination communication
• Psychological issues in vaccine communication, including fear, anger, anxiety, disbelief, trust/lack of, the locus of control, the lack of vaccine confidence, and other
• Vaccine communication strategies for building confidence and trust
• Vaccine-related communication between researchers and policy makers
• The role of proactive communication in vaccination success
Manuscripts which suggest how to improve vaccine and vaccination communication will be prioritized. While we primarily focus on COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination communication, we will be happy to consider and include manuscripts that focus on vaccine communication related to other illnesses.
We welcome contributions that present original empirical research, theoretical analyses, scoping and systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and research-grounded perspectives. We encourage multidisciplinary scholarly contributions that come from diverse disciplines, including health communication, media studies, public health, health promotion, health and social psychology, behavioral medicine, and medical anthropology.
Keywords: COVID-19, health communication, infodemic, misinformation, vaccination communication, vaccine communication
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
