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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 May 2021

Aida Rosalia Guhlincozzi and Aynaz Lotfata

Having easy access to the flu and COVID-19 vaccination sites may be important for controlling the spread of the infection. Chicago implemented a broad strategy of opening COVID-19…

1299

Abstract

Purpose

Having easy access to the flu and COVID-19 vaccination sites may be important for controlling the spread of the infection. Chicago implemented a broad strategy of opening COVID-19 vaccination locations across the city in a variety of locations.

Design/methodology/approach

We defined access as having vaccinations within one mile. Data came from the American Community Survey (ACS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Chicago Data Portal. We calculated the street-network distance from the population-weighted centroid of census tracts to the nearest vaccination sites before, during and post COVID-19 pandemic. We compared the demographics of census tracts within one mile to those greater than one mile during each period.

Findings

People age 65 and above and with disabilities saw significant decreases in flu vaccination site access to locations within one mile of their census tract in 2020–2021 compared to 2018–2019. The COVID-19 vaccination sites mimic these flu vaccination site patterns, suggesting a severe lack of geographic access for a group likely to experience limited mobility. Results combining instances of both flu and COVID-19 vaccination sites suggest that making COVID-19 vaccination sites available at flu shot site locations would significantly reduce the number of people with limited mobility lacking geographic access.

Originality/value

Policymakers should explore how this expanded network of vaccination locations could facilitate permanent improvements to access to vaccination sites for people with disabilities.

Details

Journal of Health Research, vol. 36 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0857-4421

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 September 2023

Annelot Wismans, Peter van der Zwan and Roy Thurik

Lockdowns and the forced closure of certain industries during the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted workers, particularly entrepreneurs, who were financially and emotionally…

Abstract

Purpose

Lockdowns and the forced closure of certain industries during the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted workers, particularly entrepreneurs, who were financially and emotionally involved in their businesses. Two studies have shown that entrepreneurs have a lower willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 than employees. In this study, the authors try to replicate the vaccination gap between the two groups. Second, the authors study whether the difference persists when controlling for demographics, vaccination attitudes and the COVID-19 context, including the financial impact of the pandemic, its effect on the wellbeing of workers, and government attitudes. Third, the authors study whether there are differences in how the context of the pandemic relates to vaccination willingness for entrepreneurs and employees.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct regression analyses using three large datasets. The authors study vaccination status (February 2022) in a 27-country Eurobarometer sample, vaccination intention (December 2020) in a Dutch sample from the LISS panel and vaccination status (July 2021) in a sample from the Understanding America Study (UAS).

Findings

All datasets confirm that entrepreneurs have lower vaccination intention and coverage than employees. Even when controlling for the variables described in the LISS and UAS datasets, this negative difference remains. The study results also indicate that demographics, especially vaccination attitudes, are much more important than contextual influences in the decision to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Originality/value

The authors are the first to dive further into the vaccination differences between entrepreneurs and employees. They advise further research into the drivers of this gap, specifically relating to the role of personality and social normative influences.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 29 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 October 2023

Divaries Cosmas Jaravaza, Joshua Risiro, Paul Mukucha and Nomuhle Jaravaza

The main purpose of the study was to synthesise the role of COVID-19 social media messages and indigenous religious beliefs on public health promotion initiatives among rural…

Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of the study was to synthesise the role of COVID-19 social media messages and indigenous religious beliefs on public health promotion initiatives among rural consumers in Zimbabwe.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach was adopted. Population consisting of 15 interviews and six focus groups was purposively sampled from Manicaland, Mashonaland Central and Masvingo provinces in Zimbabwe. A thematic approach was used to present and analyse the data.

Findings

Rural consumers believed WhatsApp messages posted by people whom they know or influential personnel like health workers. Credibility of WhatsApp messages was enhanced through its ability to send videos and audios. Teachings and indoctrination by indigenous churches and misinformation were found to be an impediment in believing COVID-19 WhatsApp messages and vaccination by rural consumers. Faith healers in indigenous churches used various practices and artefacts like holy water, stone pebbles, clay pots, flags and wooden rods to pray and treat patients suffering from COVID-19 and other ailments.

Practical implications

Social media messages, religious teachings and indoctrination may be a hindrance to rural consumers in adopting government public health promotion initiatives; hence, public health professionals need prior emic understanding and co-option of local leadership in vaccination campaigns.

Originality/value

This study outstretches the theoretical landscape in consumer behaviour and also practical contribution to health practitioners and marketers on breaking indigenous religious barriers and social media misconceptions on vaccination uptake through promotional strategies earmarked for rural consumers.

Details

International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6123

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2023

Youngjee Ko, Hanyoung Kim, Youngji Seo, Jeong-Yeob Han, Hye Jin Yoon, Jongmin Lee and Ja Kyung Seo

Successful social marketing campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccination for the unvaccinated relies on increasing positive reactions but also reducing negative responses to…

Abstract

Purpose

Successful social marketing campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccination for the unvaccinated relies on increasing positive reactions but also reducing negative responses to persuasive messages. This study aims to investigate the relative effects of narrative vs non-narrative public service announcements (PSAs) promoting COVID-19 vaccination on both positive and negative reactions. Using social media as a tool for disseminating marketing campaigns provides a great opportunity to examine the effectiveness of narrative PSAs on vaccination intention, especially among unvaccinated young adults, who were the target audience of the social marketing. This study explores the role of empathy and psychological reactance as underlying mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

An experiment involving unvaccinated young adults was conducted with a one-factor, two-condition (message type: narrative vs non-narrative) design.

Findings

Results indicated that the narrative (vs non-narrative) PSAs led to greater empathy. While no direct effects of message type emerged on psychological reactance or vaccination intention, results of a serial multi-mediator model confirmed that empathy and psychological reactance mediated the effects of message type on vaccination intention.

Originality/value

The study extends the understanding of narrative persuasion by examining an underlying mechanism behind narrative persuasion in a COVID-19 PSA. This study provides empirical evidence of the important role of empathy in processing narrative PSAs. Moreover, the current study expands narrative persuasion’s applicability to COVID-19 vaccination intervention messages for unvaccinated young adults, highlighting the effectiveness of narrative persuasion as a social marketing communication tool.

Details

Journal of Social Marketing, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6763

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 May 2023

Zulma Valedon Westney, Inkyoung Hur, Ling Wang and Junping Sun

Disinformation on social media is a serious issue. This study examines the effects of disinformation on COVID-19 vaccination decision-making to understand how social media users…

Abstract

Purpose

Disinformation on social media is a serious issue. This study examines the effects of disinformation on COVID-19 vaccination decision-making to understand how social media users make healthcare decisions when disinformation is presented in their social media feeds. It examines trust in post owners as a moderator on the relationship between information types (i.e. disinformation and factual information) and vaccination decision-making.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducts a scenario-based web survey experiment to collect extensive survey data from social media users.

Findings

This study reveals that information types differently affect social media users' COVID-19 vaccination decision-making and finds a moderating effect of trust in post owners on the relationship between information types and vaccination decision-making. For those who have a high degree of trust in post owners, the effect of information types on vaccination decision-making becomes large. In contrast, information types do not affect the decision-making of those who have a very low degree of trust in post owners. Besides, identification and compliance are found to affect trust in post owners.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on online disinformation and individual healthcare decision-making by demonstrating the effect of disinformation on vaccination decision-making and providing empirical evidence on how trust in post owners impacts the effects of information types on vaccination decision-making. This study focuses on trust in post owners, unlike prior studies that focus on trust in information or social media platforms.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 37 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 August 2023

John Ovretveit and Mikael Ohrling

Scientific description of the organization and management of a temporary large scale healthcare (T-LSHc) vaccination clinic and evidence-based guidance for future temporary…

Abstract

Purpose

Scientific description of the organization and management of a temporary large scale healthcare (T-LSHc) vaccination clinic and evidence-based guidance for future temporary healthcare (T-Hc) services.

Design/methodology/approach

Mixed-methods rapid feedback case study, using interviews, document analysis and quantitative data, with both data collection and analysis guided by a research-informed systems program theory of the clinic.

Findings

Private contractors were not willing to bid for contracts to set up and close a T-LSHc vaccination clinic in 2022, although they had done so earlier in the year. The public health system was able successfully to set up and run the clinic itself for 2 months, serving 3,000 people a day at its peak. Part of the success was because a dedicated unit to set up and run T-Hc services had been created in 2020. The Stockholm organization model differed from the Milan model by using information technology to reduce the need for a large number of on-site doctors.

Research limitations/implications

There may be recall bias in interview data as interviews were carried out four months after the closing of the clinic. The conclusions apply to clinically simple but managerially complex T-Hc services but are limited to public healthcare systems operating in a similar context to that of the case study service. The study contributes to the new science of healthcare crisis organization and management and fills gaps in knowledge in disaster medicine for enduring and fluctuating health crises. The findings show the importance of a capacity to establish and manage T-Hc, and of the specialist management and HIT competence that health systems will need to build to meet the crises that threaten our health, both now and in the future.

Practical implications

Public healthcare systems can provide clinically simple and managerially complex T-Hc services quickly and successfully if they have experience and capacity to plan and set up such services, skilled operational managers respected by staff, staff who can be redeployed, and suitable health information technology.

Social implications

The need for healthcare services to respond to crises is likely to increase in the future. Information for creating the service may be limited at first and changing. The exact nature of the health threat may be uncertain, as may the demand and needs of subpopulations and individuals. The study findings can help to respond quickly to reduce morbidity illness and death through creating and organizing temporary large-scale public healthcare services when existing services cannot be reorganized to meet the scale of the need.

Originality/value

This article is the first detailed empirical description and analysis of a large-scale temporary healthcare service operated by the primary care division of an integrated public healthcare system, with research informed guidance for future services of this type in similar contexts. This article compares two organization models of T-LSHc services, and contributes to an emerging subdiscipline of the organization and management of disaster and crisis healthcare.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 37 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 September 2022

Akhilesh Kumar, Gaurav Kumar, Tanaya Vijay Ramane and Gurjot Singh

This study proposes strategies for vaccine center allocation for coronavirus disease (COVID) vaccine by determining the number of vaccination stations required for the vaccination…

Abstract

Purpose

This study proposes strategies for vaccine center allocation for coronavirus disease (COVID) vaccine by determining the number of vaccination stations required for the vaccination drive, location of vaccination station, assignment of demand group to vaccination station, allocation of the scarce medical professional teams to station and number of optimal days a vaccination station to be functional in a week.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model. However, to handle nonlinearity, the authors devise a heuristic and then propose a two-stage mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation to optimize the allocation of vaccination centers or stations to demand groups in the first stage and the allocation of vaccination centers to cold storage links in the second stage. The first stage optimizes the cost and average distance traveled by people to reach the vaccination center, whereas the second stage optimizes the vaccine’s holding and storage and transportation cost by efficiently allocating cold storage links to the centers.

Findings

The model is studied for the real-world case of Chandigarh, India. The results obtained validate that the proposed approach can immensely help government agencies and policymaking body for a successful vaccination drive. The model tries to find a tradeoff between loss due to underutilized medical teams and the distance traveled by a demand group to get the vaccination.

Originality/value

To the best of our knowledge, there are hardly any studies on a vaccination program at such a scale due to sudden outbreaks such as Covid-19.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 October 2022

Jackson Sears, Beth A. Cianfrone and Timothy Kellison

The usage of sport stadia for public service is increasingly common and may come in different forms. In the COVID-19 pandemic, this included sport entities hosting mass COVID-19…

Abstract

Purpose

The usage of sport stadia for public service is increasingly common and may come in different forms. In the COVID-19 pandemic, this included sport entities hosting mass COVID-19 vaccinations at their stadiums. The purpose of this study was to examine the branding effects of a COVID-19 mass vaccination center as communicated by (1) a sport entity (i.e. stadium and its two teams) and (2) the public.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyzed the entity's social media messages related to the mass vaccination center for the three groups, the stadium and its two sports team tenants (N = 48) while comparing the public's social media content about the vaccination center (N = 187). An empirical material coding analysis was conducted.

Findings

The sport entity's posts revealed 12 codes, five categories and two themes communicated about their brand: In this together–community impact and showcasing brand attributes. The public posts analysis revealed 21 codes, eight categories and four themes, creating brand awareness, establishing/reaffirming brand attributes, affective response and in this together–community response.

Originality/value

The identification of the two organization themes and four public themes provided an initial examination of the mass vaccination efforts' impact on the sport entity's brand. With the rise of stadia being utilized as public service venues (e.g. voting centers and disaster shelters), the results of the study can provide guidance to communicating the host team's brand during these times. Results also suggest the public perception of such service reflected positive opportunities for brand exposure and subsequent effects for the teams.

Details

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1464-6668

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 March 2023

Sharika J. Hegde, Hani Mahmassani and Karen Smilowitz

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to evaluate and assess the performance of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process that is sensitive to the unique supply-side…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to evaluate and assess the performance of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process that is sensitive to the unique supply-side and demand-side constraints exhibited in the US vaccine rollout.

Design/methodology/approach

A queuing framework that operates under two distinct regimes is formulated to analyze service rates that represent system capacity to vaccinate (under the first regime) and hesitancy-induced throughput (under the second regime). These supply- and hesitancy-constrained regimes form the focus of the present paper, as the former reflects the inherent ability of the nation in its various jurisdictions to mobilize, whereas the latter reflects a critical area for public policy to protect the population’s overall health and safety.

Findings

The two-regime framework analysis provides insights into the capacity to vaccinate and hesitancy-constrained demand, which is found to vary across the country primarily by politics and region. The framework also allows analysis of the end-to-end supply chain, where it is found that the ability to vaccinate was likely constrained by last-mile administration issues, rather than the capacity of the manufacturing and transportation steps of the supply chain.

Originality/value

This study presents a new framework to consider end-to-end supply chains as dynamic systems that exhibit different regimes because of unique supply- and demand-side characteristics and estimate rollout capacity and underlying determinants at the national, state and county levels.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2022

Xuan Cu Le and Thi Thuy Linh Vu

Vaccination is widely conceded as a pivotal measure to achieve community immunization and eradicate COVID-19. The purpose of this paper is to understand vaccination behavior based…

Abstract

Purpose

Vaccination is widely conceded as a pivotal measure to achieve community immunization and eradicate COVID-19. The purpose of this paper is to understand vaccination behavior based on the association between the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and health belief model (HBM).

Design/methodology/approach

A self-administered questionnaire was designed to collect data from 438 participants through social media in Vietnam and later analyzed using SPSS and AMOS to examine the research model.

Findings

The results indicated that attitude toward vaccination is positively influenced by perceived risk and perceived benefits. Additionally, background constructs of TPB (i.e. social norms, attitude and perceived behavioral control) and HBM (i.e. perceived risk, response efficacy, perceived benefits and knowledge about COVID-19) are underlying motivations for individual intention to receive vaccine. Moreover, age is a demographic predictor of vaccination intention. Finally, vaccination intention facilitates COVID-19 vaccination.

Practical implications

The findings will assist health-care bodies and authorities to understand public perceptions, attitude and behaviors and encourage their participation in vaccination campaigns.

Originality/value

To date, this is the first investigation of how disease knowledge and perceived benefits drive vaccination intention in Vietnam. Moreover, this study may be initially successful in adding current health-care behavior literature by combining TPB with HBM. With most studies on vaccination intention at the early stage of COVID-19 outbreak in developed nations, this work provides new insights by testing vaccination behavior in the fourth wave of COVID-19 outbreak and in a developing nation.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. 72 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

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