10.3389/fpsyg.2021.691438

A close link has been established between self-harm and suicide risk in adolescents, and increasing attention is given to social media as possibly involved in this relationship. It is important to identify indicators of suicidality (i.e., suicide ideation or attempt) including aspects related to contagion in online and offline social networks and explore the role of social media in the relationship between social circumstances and suicidality in young adolescents with self-harm. This study explored characteristics of Korean adolescents with a recent history of self-harm and identified how behavioral and social features explain lifetime suicidality with emphasis on the impact of social media. Data came from a nationwide online survey among sixth- to ninth-graders with self-harm during the past 12 months (n = 906). We used χ2 tests of independence to explore potential concomitants of lifetime suicidality and employed a multivariate logistic regression model to examine the relationship between the explanatory variables and suicidality. Sensitivity analyses were performed with lifetime suicide attempt in place of lifetime suicidality. 33.9% (n = 306) and 71.2% (n = 642) reported to have started self-harm by the time they were fourth- and six-graders, respectively; 44.3% (n = 400) reported that they have friends who self-harm. Having endorsed moderate/severe forms and multiple forms of self-harm (OR 5.36, p < 0.001; OR 3.13, p < 0.001), having engaged in self-harm for two years or more (OR 2.42, p = 0.001), having friends who self-harm (OR 1.92, p = 0.013), and having been bullied at school were associated with an increased odds of lifetime suicidality (OR 2.08, p = 0.004). Notably, having posted content about one’s self-harm on social media during the past 12 months was associated with an increased odds of lifetime suicidality (OR 3.15, p < 0.001), whereas having seen related content in the same period was not. Sensitivity analyses yielded similar results with lifetime suicide attempt, supporting our findings from the logistic regression. The current study suggests that self-harm may be prevalent from early adolescence in South Korea with assortative gathering. The relationship of vulnerable adolescents’ social circumstances to suicide risk may be compounded by the role of social media. As the role of social media can be linked to both risk (i.e., contagion) and benefit (i.e., social connection and support), pre-existing vulnerabilities alongside SH and what online communication centers on should be a focus of clinical attention.

Relationship of Social and Behavioral Characteristics to Suicidality in Community Adolescents With Self-Harm: Considering Contagion and Connection on Social Media

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.624023

Countries all over the globe have implemented mandatory social distancing measures in an attempt to suppress and control the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This enforced period of isolation, disruption to normal training routines and competition cancellation, could be having an adverse effect on the mental health and wellbeing of athletes. This study sought to explore the perceived impact of the COVID-19 social distancing measures on athlete wellbeing. Fourteen elite athletes who were unable to train or compete due to government imposed lockdown measures were recruited to participate in this qualitative study. Utilising the photo elicitation method, participants were asked to take a series of photographs that represented their experiences as athletes living in lockdown. These photographs were used to guide discussions in follow up unstructured interviews. Reflexive inductive thematic analysis identified three main themes that captured athletes’ experience of social distancing measures and the implications for their wellbeing: (1) threats to wellbeing; (2) adapting routines and maintaining motivation; and (3) reflecting on participation in competitive elite sport. The initial sudden loss of sport in the athlete’s lives posed a threat to their wellbeing, but over the duration of the lockdown period the athletes developed numerous strategies to protect their wellbeing. Furthermore, their time away from sport encouraged them to reflect on their athletic identity and to make life changes that would protect their wellbeing during the rest of the lockdown period and when they returned to sport. A number of immediate practical recommendations are offered for athlete support personnel working with athletes during the crisis, these include developing self-care strategies and social networks, adapting routines, setting new goals and encouraging the pursuit of dual-careers. Future research is encouraged to investigate how practitioners can deliver effective psychological support through tele-consulting, and to consider whether their support is best focused on therapeutic counselling or mental skills training during the pandemic.

Exploring the Perceived Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Social Distancing Measures on Athlete Wellbeing: A Qualitative Study Utilising Photo-Elicitation

Submitted a paper reporting null results to a mid tier journal. Guess how it went. I literally don’t care at this point but I do feel bad for the first author (who I won’t name here).

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.674018

Given the negative consequences of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on public health, his study aimed at investigating: (1) the differences between adults with and without chronic illness in buying behavior, vaccination intention, pandemic worry, and the health belief model (HBM) components; (2) the HBM components as mediators of the relationship between pandemic worry and vaccination intention. The sample consisted of 864 adults (66.6% females, Mage = 47.61, SD = 9.23), of which 20.5% reported having a chronic illness. Associations between pandemic worry, vaccination intention, and HBM were ascertained using correlation and mediation analyses. Individuals with chronic illness reported a higher level of pandemic worry, higher levels of perceived threat, greater benefits from vaccination, had lower self-efficacy and bought more medicine and sanitary/hygienic products. No significant differences were observed regarding vaccination intention, barriers against vaccination, and changes in food buying behavior. We found that the relationship between pandemic worry and vaccination intention was partially mediated by the perceived threat of disease and the benefits of vaccination. Pandemic worry predicted vaccination intention directly but also through the contribution of the perceived threat of disease and the benefits of vaccination. These findings suggest that presenting evidence of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and the benefits of having the vaccine (especially for vulnerable groups, such as chronic illness patients) will encourage the population to follow vaccination recommendations.

COVID-19 Pandemic Worry and Vaccination Intention: The Mediating Role of the Health Belief Model Components

2107.06696v1

The spontaneous formation and subsequent growth, dissolution, merger and competitionof social groups bears similarities to physical phase transitions in metastable finite systems.We examine three different scenarios, percolation, spinodal decomposition and nucleation,to describe the formation of social groups of varying size and density. In our agent-basedmodel, we use a feedback between the opinions of agents and their ability to establish links.Groups can restrict further link formation, but agents can also leave if costs exceed the groupbenefits. We identify the critical parameters for costs/benefits and social influence to obtaineither one large group or the stable coexistence of several groups with different opinions.Analytic investigations allow to derive different critical densities that control the formationand coexistence of groups. Our novel approach sheds new light on the early stage of networkgrowth and the emergence of large connected components.

Social nucleation: Group formation as a phase transition

Three Friends Celebrate Turning 100 After COVID Vaccines: 'We've Gone Through This Together' #PEOPLEtheTVShow

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.647420

In standard times, approximately 20% of children and youth experience significant emotional, behavioral, or social challenges. During COVID-19, however, over half of parents have reported mental health symptoms in their children. Specifically, depressive symptoms, anxiety, contamination obsessions, family well-being challenges, and behavioral concerns have emerged globally for children during the pandemic. Without treatment or prevention, such concerns may hinder positive development, personal life trajectory, academic success, and inhibit children from meeting their potential. A school-based resiliency program for children (DREAM) for children was developed, and the goal of this study was to collaborate with stakeholders to translate it into an online-live hybrid. Our team developed a methodology to do this based on Knowledge Translation-Integration (KTI), which incorporates stakeholder engagement throughout the entire research to action process. KTI aims to ensure that programs are acceptable, sustainable, feasible, and credible. Through collaboration with parents and school board members, qualitative themes of concerns, recommendations and validation were established, aiding in meaningful online-live translation. Even though the original program was developed for intellectually gifted children, who are at greater risk for mental health concerns, stakeholders suggested using the program for both gifted and non-gifted children, given the universal applicability of the tools, particularly during this pandemic time period when mental health promotion is most relevant. An online-live approach would allow students studying at home and those studying in the classroom to participate in the program. Broader implications of this study include critical recommendations for the development of both online-live school programs in general, as well as social-emotional literacy programs for children.

Building Resilience During COVID-19: Recommendations for Adapting the DREAM Program – Live Edition to an Online-Live Hybrid Model for In-Person and Virtual Classrooms

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.687512

During sudden school closures in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers had to move to distance teaching. This unprecedented situation could be expected to influence teacher well-being and schools as organizations. This article reports a qualitative study that aims at understanding how changes in teachers’ professional lives that were related to school closure affected Swiss primary teachers’ professional well-being. In semi-structured online-interviews, 21 teachers from 15 schools sampled by snowball method reported their experiences during school closure and distance teaching and how this situation influenced their professional well-being. Results showed that medium to high levels of teacher well-being could accompany a general negative evaluation of the move to distance teaching. Factors such as high work-load, social distancing and feelings of lack of competence and self-efficacy were among the most aversive aspects of distance teaching and associated with deteriorating professional well-being. Among a plethora of factors that supported teachers in maintaining their well-being, contextual work-related aspects such as school resources, collegial support or leadership support along with individual aspects such as resilience, coping strategies, and clear work structures were important. Additionally, it was found that teacher well-being was nourished by positive experiences with the new forms of distance teaching and feelings of professional mastery. Despite methodological limitations (snowball sampling, retrospective interviews), the findings of this study could inform schools and authorities about what is needed to support teacher well-being and might help to develop organizational strategies that aim at preventing harmful declines in teacher well-being during challenging and difficult times such as a pandemic.

Swiss Primary Teachers’ Professional Well-Being During School Closure Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.642689

The rapid and unplanned change to teaching and learning in the online format brought by COVID-19 has likely impacted many, if not all, aspects of university students' lives worldwide. To contribute to the investigation of this change, this study focuses on the impact of the pandemic on student well-being, which has been found to be as important to student lifelong success as their academic achievement. Student well-being has been linked to their engagement and performance in curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities, intrinsic motivation, satisfaction, meaning making, and mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine how student perceptions of their degree completion and future job prospects during the pandemic impact their well-being and what role university support plays in this relationship. We used the conservation of resources theory to frame our study and to develop five hypotheses that were later tested via structural equation modeling. Data were collected from 2,707 university students in France, Germany, Russia, and UK via an online survey. The results showed that university support provided by instructors and administration plays a mediating role in the relationship between the perceived impact of COVID-19 on degree completion and future job prospects and levels of student well-being. Student well-being is decreased by their concerns for their degree completion but not by their concerns for future job prospects. In turn, concerns for future job prospects affect student well-being over time. These results suggest that in a “new normal,” universities could increase student well-being by making support to student studies a priority, especially for undergraduates. Also, universities should be aware of the students' changing emotional responses to crisis and ensure visibility and accessibility of student support.

The Perceived Impact of COVID-19 on Student Well-Being and the Mediating Role of the University Support: Evidence From France, Germany, Russia, and the UK

10.1038/d41586-021-01917-9

An newly identified immune molecule raises hopes for a vaccine against a range of viruses related to SARS-CoV-2.

This ‘super antibody’ for COVID fights off multiple coronaviruses

Workers are anxious because the coronavirus is still infecting people. Here are ways to evaluate the safety of a shared work space

Is Your Office Safe from COVID? What to Know Now That Your Boss Wants You Back

What was claimed According to a University of Bristol study, mask-wearing by large numbers of people can reduce the R rate by 0.25. Our verdict The study estimated that if everyone in a given population wore a mask it could lead to a median reduction of the R number of 25%, not a flat reduction of 0.25.

New study estimates mask wearing could cut R number by 25%, not 0.25

10.1038/d41586-021-01935-7

Children get long COVID too, but researchers are still working to determine how frequently and how severely.

Long COVID and kids: scientists race to find answers

2107.06186v1

The structure of contact networks affects the likelihood of disease spread at the population scaleand the risk of infection at any given node. Though this has been well characterized for both theoreticaland empirical networks for the spread of epidemics on completely susceptible networks, the long-termimpactofnetworkstructureonriskofinfectionwithanendemicpathogen,wherenodescanbeinfectedmorethanonce,hasbeenlesswellcharacterized. Here,weanalyzedetailedrecordsofthetransportationofcattlebetweenfarmsinTurkeytocharacterizetheglobalandlocalattributesoftheshipmentsnetworkbetween 2007-2012. We build an aggregated static directed - weighted network, using the informationabout source-destination of shipments and the frequency of shipments between farms as weights. Wethenstudythecorrelationbetweennetworkpropertiesandthelikelihoodofinfectionwith,orexposureto, foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease over the same time period using recorded outbreaks. The shipmentsnetworkshowspropertiesof"small-worldness"inthattheshortestpathlengthissmall(similartothatofarandom-equivalentnetworksensemble),combinedwithalargeclusteringcoefficient(muchlargerthanonarandomnetwork). Thedegreedistributionisscale-freeovertheintermediaterangeofdegrees,buthas an exponential cut-off for high degrees. Further, high degree nodes disproportionately have morefrequentshipmentsonaverage. Inaddition,theshipmentsnetworkillustratesstrongmodularstructure,where farms are more preferentially attached to other geographically proximate farms than to distantfarms; and lack of assortativity, i.e. farms connecting other farms regardless of their connections. Thiscombination of features has not been previously observed in other reported networks of shipments.Locally, the shipments network shows signs of spatial constraints, with relatively few long-distance con-nections, and a strong similarity to other spatially constrained networks. We find that farms that wereeither infected or at high risk of infection with FMD (within one link from an infected farm) had highervalues of centrality (eigenvector centrality, betweenness centrality, degree, coreness); farms that werenever less than 2 links from an infected farm had disproportionately low centrality. However, the corre-lation of the rankings of farms shows that central farms (high eigenvector centrality) are not necessarilythosewithmoreconnectionsto/fromit(in/outdegree). Severalfarmswithinfluentialconnections(higheigenvector centrality) serve asbridgesof densely connected farms (high betweenness centrality); i.e.,areconnectionsbetweenmodules. TheseresultssuggestthattodetectFMDspread,surveillanceeffortscould be focused preferentially on farms with centralities greater than the mean

Network structure and disease risk for an endemic infectiousdisease

Cases represented similarly.

Canada's vaccination program is sound, experts say after WHO remarks were taken out of context

What the World Health Organization really said about mixing COVID-19 vaccines

New research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology provides evidence that critical thinking skills are negatively related to belief in conspiracy theories. In other words, the study suggests that people with greater critical thinking skills are less likely to believe that terrorist attacks are being covertly directed by a country’s own government or that mind-control technology is secretly being used to control the population.

New study indicates conspiracy theory believers have less developed critical thinking abilities

What is already known about this topic?An elevated risk for myocarditis among mRNA COVID-19 vaccinees has been observed, particularly in males aged 12–29 years.What is added by this report?On June 23, 2021, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices concluded that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination to individual persons and at the population level clearly outweighed the risks of myocarditis after vaccination.What are the implications for public health practice?Continued use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in all recommended age groups will prevent morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 that far exceed the number of cases of myocarditis expected. Information regarding the risk for myocarditis with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines should be disseminated to providers to share with vaccine recipients

Use of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine After Reports of Myocarditis Among Vaccine Recipients: Update from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, June 2021

(And in case it isn’t clear, also reinstating or maintaining other community level precautions like masks while we work on getting more people vaccinated is also helpful!)

When relaxing infection precautions, its expected that risk among vaccinated increases, as is happening in UK & Israel. But the solution isn’t 3rd doses for vaccinated, it’s 1st & 2nd doses for unvaccinated!! More vaccines to more countries & in more arms should be our goal!!

As Delta spreads, cases starting to rise again across Europe...

These are all from the last day.

More than 100 scientists and doctors say move risks creating a generation with problems due to long Covid

Global experts urge Boris Johnson to delay ‘dangerous’ Covid reopening

10.31234/osf.io/4yrdj

Ukraine has been the target of a long-running Russian disinformation campaign. We investigate susceptibility to this pro-Kremlin disinformation from a cognitive science perspective. Is greater analytic thinking associated with less belief in disinformation, as per classical theories of reasoning? Or does analytic thinking amplify motivated reasoning, such that analytic thinking is associated with more polarized beliefs (and thus more belief in pro-Kremlin disinformation among pro-Russia Ukrainians)? In online (N=1,974) and face-to-face representative (N=9,474) samples of Ukrainians, we find support for the classical reasoning account. Analytic thinking, as measured using the Cognitive Reflection Test, was associated with greater ability to discern truth from disinformation – even for Ukrainians who are strongly oriented towards Russia. We found similar, albeit somewhat weaker, results when operationalizing analytic thinking using the self-report Active Open-minded Thinking scale. These results demonstrate a similar pattern to prior work using American participants. Thus, the positive association between analytic thinking and the ability to discern truth versus falsehood generalizes to the qualitatively different information environment of post-communist Ukraine. Despite low trust in government and media, weak journalistic standards, and years of exposure to Russian disinformation, Ukrainians who engage in more analytic thinking are better able to tell truth from falsehood.

Does Analytic Thinking Insulate Against Pro-Kremlin Disinformation? Evidence from Ukraine

10.1038/d41586-021-01862-7

A growing share of infections among unvaccinated youths in countries with high vaccination rates is putting the spotlight on the role of young people in the pandemic.

Will COVID become a disease of the young?

10.31234/osf.io/dpqj6

Do we preferentially learn from outcomes that confirm our choices? This is one of the most basic, and yet consequence-bearing, questions concerning reinforcement learning. In recent years, we investigated this question in a series of studies implementing increasingly complex behavioral protocols. The learning rates fitted in experiments featuring partial or complete feedback, as well as free and forced choices, were systematically found to be consistent with a choice-confirmation bias. This result is robust across a broad range of outcome contingencies and response modalities. One of the prominent behavioral consequences of the confirmatory learning rate pattern is choice hysteresis: that is the tendency of repeating previous choices, despite contradictory evidence. As robust and replicable as they have proven to be, these findings were (legitimately) challenged by a couple of studies pointing out that a choice-confirmatory pattern of learning rates may spuriously arise from not taking into consideration an explicit choice autocorrelation term in the model. In the present study, we re-analyze data from four previously published papers (in total nine experiments; N=363), originally included in the studies demonstrating (or criticizing) the choice-confirmation bias in human participants. We fitted two models: one featured valence-specific updates (i.e., different learning rates for confirmatory and disconfirmatory outcomes) and one additionally including an explicit choice autocorrelation process (gradual perseveration). Our analysis confirms that the inclusion of the gradual perseveration process in the model significantly reduces the estimated choice-confirmation bias. However, in all considered experiments, the choice-confirmation bias remains present at the meta-analytical level, and significantly different from zero in most experiments. Our results demonstrate that the choice-confirmation bias resists the inclusion of an explicit choice autocorrelation term, thus proving to be a robust feature of human reinforcement learning. We conclude by discussing the psychological plausibility of the gradual perseveration process in the context of these behavioral paradigms and by pointing to additional computational processes that may play an important role in estimating and interpreting the computational biases under scrutiny.

Choice-confirmation bias and gradual perseveration in human reinforcement learning

10.31234/osf.io/c4pzj

Do people have privileged and direct access to their own minds, or do we infer our own thoughts and feelings indirectly, as we would infer the mental states of others? In this study we shed light on this question by examining how mentalizing ability—the set of processes involved in understanding other people’s thoughts and feelings—relates to metacognitive efficiency—the ability to reflect on one’s own performance. In a general population sample (N = 477) we showed that mentalizing ability and self-reported socio-communicative skills are positively correlated with perceptual metacognitive efficiency, even after controlling for choice accuracy. By modelling the trial-by-trial formation of confidence we showed that mentalizing ability predicted the association between response times and confidence, suggesting those with better mentalizing ability were more sensitive to inferential cues to self-performance. In a second study we showed that both mentalizing and metacognitive efficiency were lower in autistic participants (N = 40) when compared with age, gender, IQ, and education-matched non-autistic participants. Together, our results suggest that the ability to understand other people’s minds predicts self-directed metacognition.

Computations of confidence are modulated by mentalizing ability

10.31234/osf.io/evcx2

Overprecision--excessive faith in the accuracy of one's beliefs--may be the most consequential of the many biases in judgment. We offer a theory to explain the ubiquity of overprecision as a consequence of finite cognitive capacity. The individual who considers only a subset of all possibilities or hypotheses will come away excessively confident in focal hypotheses. In our theory, individuals consider only a subset of the "true" (modeled) probability space, but correctly apprehend relative probabilities. The resulting beliefs follow a simple formula in which the probability assigned to all considered hypotheses are scaled up by a constant factor. We show that this framework rationalizes five well-known behavioral phenomena concerning overprecision of beliefs and identifies interventions to improve calibration in judgment.

Constraints on Thinking Cause Overprecision

10.31234/osf.io/27sgp

The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions caused significant stress and anxiety among many, but individual effects of the pandemic vary widely. We examine if specific forms of anxiety (generalized vs. social) predict distinct trajectories of anxiety, perceived stress, and COVID-related worries during three early months of the pandemic. As part of a longitudinal study (N=291), adolescents’ (n=194) levels of social and generalized anxiety were assessed via parent- and self-reports and clinical diagnostic interviews. In young adulthood (n=164), anxiety, stress, and COVID-related worries were assessed three times during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic generalized anxiety predicted higher initial levels and maintenance of anxiety, stress, and COVID-related worries during the pandemic. In contrast, pre-pandemic social anxiety predicted lower initial levels of anxiety, stress, and COVID-related worries followed by increases in anxiety and stress. Our results highlight the importance of understanding how pre-pandemic psychological factors influence individuals’ responses to the pandemic.

Which anxious adolescents are most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?

10.31234/osf.io/eyjaq

In series of studies, we sought to assess the extent to which social media use was related to the false consensus effect. Study 1 (N = 493) and Study 2 (N = 364, preregistered) assessed the relationship between social media use and the false consensus effect for three psychological characteristics: political attitudes, personality traits, and fundamental social motives. Study 3 (N = 875) explored lay beliefs about the strength of the relationships between social media use and false consensus effects. Across studies, we found that heavier use of social media was associated with stronger false consensus effects. However, these effects were smaller in magnitude than lay beliefs about these linkages.

How Strong is the Association Between Social Media Use and False Consensus?

The reality on the ground is likely much higher because states and private labs are taking weeks to report testing results to the CDC.

Delta variant said to be far more widespread than federal estimates

One term I worry that we (as a public health community) have mis-messaged during the pandemic: "herd immunity threshold" A non-technical thread on why this is not "% of the population that needs to be vaccinated for us to return to life as normal while eradicating COVID-19"...

Vaccine uptake is rising for Republicans Independents. - 61% of Republicans say they have been or will get jabbed - 52% of Independents (and 87% of Democrats) say the same - Reluctance is at 26%, down by 11 points over the last month

New weekly The Economist/YouGov national poll shows vaccine reluctance hitting another new low. - 69% of adults say they have been at least partially vaccinated, or plan to get vaccinated soon - 17% say they will not get vaccinated - 14% say they're unsure

As you can see here, very limited grade 3 side effects. Overall - very well tolerated one shot vaccine. Cheers to another vaccine in our arsenal against COVID19!

J&J’s vaccine vs placebo (normal saline). Again note the 20+% fatigue and headache in the placebo group. (The ...ugh 2020 effect) Chills were an unsolicited side effect (meaning they had to report it vs being prompted like in some other trials)

Okay Twitter! Here is the new vaccine side effect chart (aka reactogenicity) for FDA submitted COVID19 vaccines vs Shingrix & Flu. J&J’s Ad26.COV2.S has the least side effect profile of the COVID vaccines so far.

The costs of anti-science sentiment in the United States have become magnified in the past year. The inability of scientists to convince the American public about the reality of COVID-19, the effectiveness of masks, and the safety of vaccines has led to loss of life and has decreased the possibility that the pandemic will end soon. We’ve seen the same problem of persuasion with the realities of climate change. Although many remedies have been proposed to combat this, the events of 2020 make clear that none of what we have been doing has worked. We need some new ideas. In an editorial this week, Aaron Mertz and Abhilash Mishra propose that one solution would be for the United States to launch an American Science Corps that would pay recent Ph.D.’s to fan out across the country and—armed with training in communications from appropriate experts—begin to build trust for science in the broader public.

Building trust in science requires more than just funding

10.1101/2021.03.23.21253727

Vaccine hesitancy (delay in obtaining a vaccine, despite availability) represents a significant hurdle to managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy is in part related to the prevalence of anti-vaccine misinformation and disinformation, which are spread through social media and user-generated content platforms. This study uses qualitative coding methodology to identify salient narratives and rhetorical styles common to anti-vaccine and COVID-denialist media. It organizes these narratives and rhetorics according to theme, imagined antagonist, and frequency. Most frequent were narratives centered on “corrupt elites” and rhetorics appealing to the vulnerability of children. The identification of these narratives and rhetorics may assist in developing effective public health messaging campaigns, since narrative and emotion have demonstrated persuasive effectiveness in other public health communication settings.

Development of a Codebook of Online Anti-Vaccination Rhetoric to Manage COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation

For the moment, reports of a very rare, dangerous blood disorder among recipients cannot be ignored.

We Need to Talk About the AstraZeneca Vaccine

10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00938-7

In countries such as the UK and the USA that are privileged to have adequate supplies of COVID-19 vaccines but are also plagued by histories of deep inequities and white supremacy, it was predictable that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines would not be equally shared across all sectors of society. The challenge of low vaccine access and uptake by some groups is multidimensional. Although vaccine hesitancy is often implicated, this framing mistakenly places the responsibility on minoritised groups to become less hesitant, rather than on public health systems to become more trustworthy and accessible. This framing also inadvertently underemphasises barriers to vaccine access that have been incompletely addressed for these populations.

Rethinking vaccine hesitancy among minority groups

Coronavirus vaccines are free — but 9 percent of Americans say they're not getting one because they are worried about cost. I see this a lot in my reporting: patients who don't seek care because they're become so accustomed to surprise bills that follow.

The updated cumulative growth curves showing continued exponential growth of B.1.617.2..

@IMPACT4HC