Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35891223›Full record

ReviewVaccines2022

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: The Perils of Peddling Science by Social Media and the Lay Press.

Shabeer Ali Thorakkattil, Suhaj Abdulsalim, Mohammed Salim Karattuthodi, Mazhuvanchery Kesavan Unnikrishnan, Muhammed Rashid, Girish Thunga

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Vaccines, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Shabeer Ali ThorakkattilPharmacy Services Department, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH), Dhahran 34465, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-4827-1972
Suhaj AbdulsalimDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah 52571, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-6450-9848
Mohammed Salim KarattuthodiDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal 576104, India.
Mazhuvanchery Kesavan UnnikrishnanDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Nitte Gulabi Shetty Memorial Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mangalore 75018, India.
Muhammed RashidDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal 576104, India.ORCID 0000-0002-6390-7764
Girish ThungaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal 576104, India.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionVaccines are the best tools to end the pandemic, and their public acceptance is crucial in achieving herd immunity. Despite global efforts to increase access to vaccination, the World Health Organization explicitly lists vaccination hesitancy (VH) as a significant threat. Despite robust safety reports from regulatory authorities and public health advisories, a substantial proportion of the community remains obsessed with the hazards of vaccination. This calls for identifying and eliminating possible causative elements, among which this study investigates the inappropriate dissemination of medical literature concerning COVID-19 and adverse events following immunization (AEFI), its influence on promoting VH, and proposals for overcoming this problem in the future.

methodsWe searched PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases, using the keywords "adverse events following immunization (AEFI)", "COVID-19", "vaccines" and "hesitancy" and related medical and subjective headings (MeSH) up to 31 March 2022, and extracted studies relevant to the COVID-19 AEFI and associated VH. Finally, 47 articles were chosen to generate a narrative synthesis.

resultsThe databases depicted a steep rise in publications on COVID-19 AEFI and COVID-19 VH from January 2021 onwards. The articles depicted multiple events of mild AEFIs without fatal events in recipients. While documenting AEFIs is praiseworthy, publishing such reports without prior expert surveillance can exaggerate public apprehension and inappropriately fuel VH. VH is a deep-rooted phenomenon, but it is difficult to zero in on the exact reason for it. Spreading rumors/misinformation on COVID-19 vaccines might be an important provocation for VH, which includes indiscriminately reporting AEFI on a massive scale. While a number of reported AEFIs fall within the acceptable limits in the course of extensive COVID-19 vaccinations, it is important to critically evaluate and moderate the reporting and dissemination of AEFI in order to allay panic.

conclusionsVaccination programs are necessary to end any pandemic, and VH may be attributed to multiple reasons. VH may be assuaged by initiating educational programs on the importance of vaccination, raising public awareness and monitoring the inappropriate dissemination of misleading information. Government-initiated strategies can potentially restrict random AEFI reports from lay epidemiologists and healthcare practitioners.

Indexed as

AEFICOVID-19COVID-19 vaccinationmedical literaturevaccine acceptancevaccine hesitancy

Identifiers

PMID35891223
PMCPMC9316152

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.