A social media-based campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake in underrepresented groups in the US

Problem The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted existing healthcare disparities in the US, with people of color dying from COVID-19 at twice the rate of white people. A striking disparity in vaccination rates for racial minorities followed, with vaccination rates among white people over 2.5 times that for Latinx and nearly twice that for Black people (March 2021). It is vital we ensure tailored public health messaging regarding the COVID-19 vaccine is delivered to all communities. Facebook provides an opportunity for large-scale, targeted health promotion. Description of practice Our goal is to increase COVID-19 vaccination uptake across the US, with a specific focus on reaching underrepresented communities most affected by the pandemic. We created a public health campaign centered on a representative group of physicians conveying their own short (<1 minute) video messages that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective. We placed these videos as advertisements on Facebook and directed them using geotargeting to reach zip codes in the US with the highest COVID-19 death rates cross-referenced with zip codes in which >50% of the population is Black or Latinx. We launched the campaign in California on April 9, and nationwide on April 12 2021. The primary outcome measures of the campaign were reach (number of individuals exposed, frequency and duration of views) and engagement (number of likes and shares). Results During our campaign (April 9-April 30), the videos appeared on Facebook newsfeeds 54.4 million times, reaching 9.9 million individuals an average of 5.5 times each. Overall, the videos received 10,053 reactions and 1,161 shares. 1.8 million video plays ran for at least 25% of the video. Lessons We demonstrate the feasibility of rapid, social media-based dissemination of tailored public health messages regarding the COVID-19 vaccine to communities in need. We are now focusing efforts on strategies to assess the impact of such messaging on vaccination uptake. Key messages Geotargeting on social media enabled rapid dissemination of COVID-19 vaccine uptake messages to underrepresented communities. Further work is required to evaluate behavioral change impact.