Vaccinate or taking chances? The World Health Organization’s message to promote vaccination against COVID-19

Abstract

Focusing on the impact that risk communication issued by public health organizations brings to changing societal behaviors, this research aimed to analyze the key messages that the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined to promote the COVID-19 vaccination program. In order to achieve this goal, a qualitative study methodology was used to analyze the content published on the WHO’s Facebook and Instagram pages from April 1 to August 31, 2021. In total, 62 publications were analyzed. The results showed that the WHO used four key communication messages to promote the importance of vaccination in society: ensuring the credibility and transparency of the information transmitted; certifying the safety and efficacy of the vaccine; appealing to a sense of collective responsibility; and associating the vaccine with the solution to end the pandemic were the chosen communication axes. The conclusions of this study show that, although fair access to the vaccine is still a reality in the making, the fact that almost 70% of the world’s population has been vaccinated suggests that the messages sent by the WHO in the context of risk communication may have contributed to building a positive image of the vaccination program.

Keywords:
COVID-19; Vaccination; Risk Communication; WHO