EU digital communication strategy during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign: Framing, contents and attributed roles at stake

If in recent years the European Union (EU) has had to face complex and multifactorial "poly-crises" (such as Brexit, refugees or the euro), the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has been an unprecedented event on a global scale with important implications at all levels. Indeed, it has reinforced public health issues aimed at protecting the population as nodal elements of the policies implemented by this organization. This research aims to analyze the different organizational communication strategies on Twitter implemented by the main EU institutions during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, in order to examine the presence of this exceptional milestone. This study has been carried out using an eminently quantitative methodology, based on a content analysis to quantify the different variables and indicators established for the publications of the official profiles of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council. The proposed categories focus on exploring their predominant thematic areas, as well as main purposes/attributed functions. In the light of the results obtained, it is concluded that the vaccination campaign is a milestone with a considerable volume of publications by all profiles. However, among the attributed functions, the distribution of aseptic information has been predominant, which is why it is discussed whether these institutions have sufficiently taken advantage of the possibilities offered by the digital environment of Twitter for the dissemination of the European message. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Communication & Society is the property of Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Navarra, S.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Simple solutions to wicked problems: Cultivating true believers of anti-vaccine conspiracies during the COVID-19 pandemic

The pandemic has produced an abundance of medical misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Many of these narratives appear impervious to scientific evidence and indifferent to the authority of the state. This has resulted in ‘true believers' being cast as paranoid and irrational. In this article, we take a different approach by exploring the cultural appeal of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Drawing on qualitative analysis of two leading figures of the anti-vaccination movement – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Joseph Mercola – we demonstrate how these influencers establish authority by staging indignation against a corrupt scientific establishment and positioning themselves as Truthers offering simple solutions to complex (wicked) problems. By conceptualising what we refer to as the Truther Playbook, we examine how anti-vaccine Truthers capitalise on existing grievances and conditions of low institutional trust to further solidify people's troubled relationship with institutional expertise while drawing attention to the structural conditions and social inequalities that facilitate belief in conspiracy theories. We contend that conspiracy theories offer not only offer alternative facts and narratives but are predicated on identification and in-group membership, highlighting the limits of debunking as a strategy to tackle disinformation. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of European Journal of Cultural Studies is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The infinity vaccine war: linguistic regularities and audience engagement of vaccine debate on Twitter

Purpose: As public health professionals strive to promote vaccines for inoculation efforts, fervent anti-vaccination movements are marshaling against it. This study is motived by a need to better understand the online discussion around vaccination. The authors identified the sentiments, emotions and topics of pro- and anti-vaxxers' tweets, investigated their change since the pandemic started and further examined the associations between these content features and audiences' engagement. Design/methodology/approach: Utilizing a snowball sampling method, data were collected from the Twitter accounts of 100 pro-vaxxers (266,680 tweets) and 100 anti-vaxxers (248,425 tweets). The authors are adopting a zero-shot machine learning algorithm with a pre-trained transformer-based model for sentiment analysis and structural topic modeling to extract the topics. And the authors use the hurdle negative binomial model to test the relationships among sentiment/emotion, topics and engagement. Findings: In general, pro-vaxxers used more positive tones and more emotions of joy in their tweets, while anti-vaxxers utilized more negative terms. The cues of sadness predominantly encourage retweets across the pro- and anti-vaccine corpus, while tweets amplifying the emotion of surprise are more attention-grabbing and getting more likes. Topic modeling of tweets yields the top 15 topics for pro- and anti-vaxxers separately. Among the pro-vaxxers' tweets, the topics of "Child protection” and "COVID-19 situation” are positively predicting audiences' engagement. For anti-vaxxers, the topics of "Supporting Trump,” "Injured children,” "COVID-19 situation,” "Media propaganda” and "Community building” are more appealing to audiences. Originality/value: This study utilizes social media data and a state-of-art machine learning algorithm to generate insights into the development of emotionally appealing content and effective vaccine promotion strategies while combating coronavirus disease 2019 and moving toward a global recovery. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-03-2022-0186 © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Denialist and anti-vaccination profiles among the Spanish population

This paper focuses its interest on the denialist discourses around the COVID 19 pandemic, paying special attention to the population whose concern for the pandemic is nil or almost nil and those who are reluctant to vaccinate. The specific objective is to quantify and characterize the group that subscribes to these discourses, identifying their sociodemographic characteristics to put them in relation to the bases on which they articulate their argumentation. To achieve this objective, we propose a methodological triangulation exercise, combining primary and secondary data that are analysed with quantitative research techniques. The primary data is obtained from an ad hoc survey, carried out on a sample of the adult Spanish population. The secondary data comes from various sources of information, mainly the CIS barometers, and these secondary data are complemented by those from other studies such as the one promoted by the FECyT, coordinated by Josep Lobera, on attitudes towards vaccination, carried out in June 2020, or the study to monitor the behaviour of the population in the face of the pandemic launched by the WHO, and carried out in Spain by the Carlos III Health Institute. In the quantitative analysis, various techniques were used to measure the association between the different dependent and independent variables considered: contingency tables, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis. The findings point to a denialist discourse present among the Spanish population in a testimonial way, only 2% of the population subscribes to an absolute denialist discourse.

Thoughts on vaccine hesitancy in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic.

Vaccines have made great contributions to the prevention of infectious diseases, but vaccine hesitancy is widespread in the world. The reasons for vaccine hesitancy are complex, but the main reasons are the lack of public awareness of vaccine-preventable diseases and the lack of confidence in vaccine effectiveness and safety. In the context of the continuous spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, boosting public confidence and ensuring the orderly development of the vaccination work of COVID-19 vaccines and conventional vaccines are necessary to curb the resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic and prevent the outbreak of various infectious diseases in China. Under the current situation, the main measures to deal with vaccine hesitancy are to play the role of health care institutions, improve public health literacy, normalize the public opinion orientation of the media platform, strengthen the supervision of vaccine clinical research and production, and do a good job in surveillance and compensation for adverse events following immunization.Copyright © 2021 by the Chinese Medical Association.

One voice or multi-issue movement? Exploring the role of bonding and bridging social capital within the COVID-19 antivax movement

Activism represents a prominent and growing body of knowledge in public relations scholarship and practice. Most of the extant studies focus on progressive and prosocial activism, understanding activism as a form of communication that aims to further social justice and equality. However, arguably, activism is a polylithic concept and not all movements are progressive in nature or seek to further issues in a given society's best interest. One such example is the so-called antivax protest movement that emerged in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast to its depiction as a large, single-issue protest movement, the authors highlight it as a movement that brings together multiple issues, agendas, and worldviews. Drawing on Putnam's notions of bridging and bonding social capital, the authors argue that a movement's lack of ability to convert bridging into bonding social capital limits its longevity and impact. They suggest that public relations professionals need to avoid the temptation to apply convenient umbrella labels to multi-issue movements, emphasising the need to adopt a critical awareness of a movement's underlying issues and motivators, which may be varied, to develop nuanced and effective messaging. • The COVID-19 antivax movement is a multi-issue movement, which has been uncritically presented as a single-issue group • Activism is a polylithic concept deserving further critical attention beyond the extant focus on progressive movements • Bridging social capital may temporarily increase the impact, reach, and visibility of a social movement or activist group • A single-issue focus can strengthen bonding social capital, enhancing a social movement's potential longevity and impact • Multi-issue responses require active listening and consideration of different types of social capital & diverse objectives [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Public Relations Review is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Evaluation of the Turkish Population's Perspective on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Routine Childhood Vaccine Applications: National Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: It is important to evaluate the attitude of society towards vaccines to understand the rates of acceptance and hesitance towards vaccination, which are essential components of public health and epidemiology. This study aimed to evaluate the perspective of the Turkish population on COVID-19 status, rate of vaccination, and also to evaluate the reasons for refusal to vaccinate, vaccine hesitancy, and related factors. METHODS: A total of 4539 participants were included in this population-based descriptive and cross-sectional study. The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS-II) was used to obtain a representative sample and for this purpose Turkey was divided into 26 regions. Participants were randomly selected based on the demographic features and population ratios of the selected regions. The following parameters were evaluated: sociodemographic characteristics and perspectives on COVID-19 vaccines, Vaccine Hesitancy Scale Adapted to Pandemics (VHS-P), and Anti-Vaccine Scale-Long Form (AVS-LF) questions. RESULTS: A total of 4539 participants, 2303 (50.7%) male and 2236 (49.3%) female, aged between 18 and 73 years, were included in this study. It was observed that 58.4% of the participants had hesitations towards COVID-19 vaccination, and 19.6% were hesitant about all childhood vaccinations. Those who did not have the COVID-19 vaccine, who did not think that the COVID-19 vaccine was protective, and who had hesitation to vaccinate against COVID-19 had significantly higher median scores on the VHS-P and AVS-LF scales, respectively (all p < 0.01). Those who did not have their children vaccinated in childhood and who were hesitant about childhood vaccinations, had significantly higher median scores on the VHS-P and AVS-LF scales, respectively (all p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Although the rate of vaccination for COVID-19 was 93.4% in the study, hesitation to vaccinate was 58.4%. The median score of the scales of those who were hesitant about childhood vaccinations was higher than individuals who did not have any hesitation. In general, the source of concerns about vaccines should be clearly seen, and precautions should be taken.

Public Figure Vaccination Rhetoric and Vaccine Hesitancy: Retrospective Twitter Analysis.

Background: Social media has emerged as a critical mass communication tool, with both health information and misinformation now spread widely on the web. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, some public figures promulgated anti-vaccine attitudes, which spread widely on social media platforms. Although anti-vaccine sentiment has pervaded social media throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unclear to what extent interest in public figures is generating anti-vaccine discourse. Objective: We examined Twitter messages that included anti-vaccination hashtags and mentions of public figures to assess the connection between interest in these individuals and the possible spread of anti-vaccine messages. Methods: We used a data set of COVID-19-related Twitter posts collected from the public streaming application programming interface from March to October 2020 and filtered it for anti-vaccination hashtags "antivaxxing," "antivaxx," "antivaxxers," "antivax," "anti-vaxxer," "discredit," "undermine," "confidence," and "immune." Next, we applied the Biterm Topic model (BTM) to output topic clusters associated with the entire corpus. Topic clusters were manually screened by examining the top 10 posts most highly correlated in each of the 20 clusters, from which we identified 5 clusters most relevant to public figures and vaccination attitudes. We extracted all messages from these clusters and conducted inductive content analysis to characterize the discourse. Results: Our keyword search yielded 118,971 Twitter posts after duplicates were removed, and subsequently, we applied BTM to parse these data into 20 clusters. After removing retweets, we manually screened the top 10 tweets associated with each cluster (200 messages) to identify clusters associated with public figures. Extraction of these clusters yielded 768 posts for inductive analysis. Most messages were either pro-vaccination (n=329, 43%) or neutral about vaccination (n=425, 55%), with only 2% (14/768) including anti-vaccination messages. Three main themes emerged: (1) anti-vaccination accusation, in which the message accused the public figure of holding anti-vaccination beliefs; (2) using "anti-vax" as an epithet; and (3) stating or implying the negative public health impact of anti-vaccination discourse. Conclusions: Most discussions surrounding public figures in common hashtags labelled as "anti-vax" did not reflect anti-vaccination beliefs. We observed that public figures with known anti-vaccination beliefs face scorn and ridicule on Twitter. Accusing public figures of anti-vaccination attitudes is a means of insulting and discrediting the public figure rather than discrediting vaccines. The majority of posts in our sample condemned public figures expressing anti-vax beliefs by undermining their influence, insulting them, or expressing concerns over public health ramifications. This points to a complex information ecosystem, where anti-vax sentiment may not reside in common anti-vax-related keywords or hashtags, necessitating further assessment of the influence that public figures have on this discourse.

High seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the capital of Chad

Background. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chad has had 7,417 confirmed cases and 193 deaths, one of the lowest in Africa. Objective. This study assessed SARS-CoV-2 immunity in N'Djamena. Methods. In August-October 2021, eleven N'Djamena hospitals col-lected outpatient data and samples. IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein were identified using ELISA. "Bambino Gesu" Laboratory, Rome, Italy, performed external quality control with chemiluminescence assay. Results. 25-34-year-old (35.2%) made up the largest age group at 31.9+/-12.6 years. 56.4% were women, 1.3 women/men. The 7th district had 22.5% and the 1st 22.3%. Housewives and students dominated. Overall seroprevalence was 69.5% (95% CI: 67.7-71.3), females 68.2% (65.8-70.5) and males 71.2% (68.6-73.8). >44-year-old had 73.9% seroprevalence. Under-15s were 57.4% positive. Housewives (70.9%), civil servants (71.5%), and health workers (9.7%) had the highest antibody positivity. N'Djamena's 9th district had 73.1% optimism and the 3rd district had 52.5%. Seroprevalences were highest at Good Samaritan Hospital (75.4%) and National General Referral Hospital (74.7%). Conclusion. Our findings indicate a high circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in N'Djamena, despite low mortality and morbidity after the first two COVID-19 pandemic waves. This high seroprevalence must be considered in Chad's vaccine policy.Copyright © 2022 The Authors and PAGEPRESS PUBLICATIONS.

Lessons learned from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic; from nucleic acid nanomedicines, to clinical trials, herd immunity, and the vaccination divide.

INTRODUCTION: In November 2019, the idea of a zoonotic virus crossing over to human transmission in a seafood market in Wuhan, China, and then soaring across the globe to claim over 6.3 million lives and persisting to date, seemed more like wild science fiction than a future reality. As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues, it is important to hallmark the imprints the pandemic has made on science. AREAS COVERED: This review covers the biology of SARS-CoV-2, vaccine formulations and trials, the concept of 'herd resistance,' and the vaccination divide. EXPERT OPINION: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has changed the landscape of medicine. The rapid approval of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines has changed the culture of drug development and clinical approvals. This change is already leading to more accelerated trials. The RNA vaccines have opened the market for nucleic acid therapies and the applications are limitless - from cancer to influenza. A phenomenon that has occurred is that the low efficacy of current vaccines and the rapid mutation rate of the virus is preventing herd immunity from being attained. Instead, herd resistance is being acquired. Even with future, more effective vaccines, anti-vaccination attitudes will continue to challenge the quest for SARS-CoV-2 herd immunity.

The problem of anti-vaccine attitudes in the COVID-19 era: analysis in the context of psychopathological dimensions and treatment proposals based on own experience

Anti-vaccine attitudes against COVID-19 are a common phenomenon, but rarely understood as a medical problem. In patients who are already under psychiatric treatment, it is worth paying attention to diagnosis and starting of psychotherapy of this problem. The association of the anti-vaccine issue with anxiety, obsession and paranoia is an opportunity to achieve solution and may lead to the progress of psychotherapy. The problem with the right choice of authority seems to be one of most important challenges for psychiatry these days.

Searching for the cognitive basis of anti-vaccination attitudes

Research on the reasons for vaccine hesitancy has largely focused on factors directly related to vaccines. In contrast, the present study focused on cognitive factors that are not conceptually related to vaccines but that have been linked to other epistemically suspect beliefs such as conspiracy theories and belief in fake news. This survey was conducted before the Covid-19 pandemic (N = 356). The results showed that anti-vaccination attitudes decreased slightly with cognitive abilities and analytic thinking styles, and strongly with scientific literacy. In addition, anti-vaccination attitudes increased slightly with teleological bias and strongly with an intuitive thinking style, ontological biases, and religious and paranormal beliefs. The results suggest that the same cognitive mechanisms that predispose to other epistemically suspect beliefs may predispose to anti-vaccination attitudes as well. The findings also indicate that pro-vaccination communication should focus on early prevention and that interventions against vaccine hesitancy should strive to be intuitively appealing. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

A County-Level COVID-19 Response

Accurate COVID-19 information has seemed contradictory and inconvenient to find since the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020. There are many sources that could be blamed for this, including the newspapers, Facebook, or the government itself at federal or even county levels. But where does the average user stand in their ability to access and understand accurate, relevant information relating to COVID-19? We explored twelve county websites picked from six states across the country—Washington, New York, Nevada, Kansas, Louisiana, and Ohio—to see how effective and accessible information at the county-level response differs between Democrat and Republican-leaning states, when those counties acted, and how the information compares regarding lockdowns, vaccines, and quality-of-life documents (such as unemployment forms and aid) during the pandemic. For a birds-eye view of this government information problem, we have chosen to highlight five of these sites to provide a brief look at our findings, which includes observations on population size, political leanings, and information availability and accessibility. [ FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19: A History: by Jacalyn Duffin, Montreal and Kingston, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2022, 232 pp., CAN $27.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-2280-1411-9

Duffin estimates that 55 vaccines were in development and some, such as the mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, were entirely novel. These are minor quibbles since Duffin works to her strengths as an historian and maintains a clear focus on the science, medicine, and public health responses to COVID-19. Duffin then turns to the science and medicine of COVID, including topics like testing, treatments, and the development of vaccines. [Extracted from the article]

A caregiver's view, a citizen's view of the Covid-19 pandemic

The pandemic linked to Covid-19 let the notion of freedom rights arise: freedom of expression, of movement, of vaccination, etc. In this context, this article focuses on the vaccination process. Between pro-vaccination, "anti-vax" and undecided, the question of freedom, of the individual decisional autonomy of the citizen and the collective/societal benefit to be oriented towards a choice arises. The dispensation of information, via the media (television, written, radio) and the multitude of sources available on the Web, may or may not facilitate decision-making. But what about the position of caregivers? Beyond the principle of wanting to care without counting, the Hippocratic oath ("I will respect all persons, their autonomy and their will, without any discrimination according to their condition or their convictions"), is it easy to keep these convictions? Is it legitimate to ask the question "Would it be ethical to prioritize vaccinated patients in intensive care?", a question joined by certain doctors of Wallonia (Belgium) in an approach of ethical debate. A look at the literature tries to understand this questioning, which can be both positive and disturbing. Level of Evidence: NA. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS

COVID-19 Vaccines

COVID-19 episode was and is a devastating pandemic. The morbidity and mortality have skyrocketed at its peak. In the initial phase it was challenging to restrain the outcome of the disease and then in finding a suitable and effective control measure (a vaccine) to prevent further spread and occurrences. The production of the vaccine was fast tracked and a number of vaccines was the outcome of the global effort. Four major types of vaccines were made - whole virus vaccines, protein based vaccines, viral vector vaccines and nucleic acid vaccines. The outcome of these vaccines have been inconstant and at present emphasis in on the protection levels achieved due to the vaccines. Although there have been sporadic aftereffects of COVID vaccines, which is common outcome of vaccination, excessive limitations have been perceived as exceptions. On the whole there has been some amount of control of the viral infection, even if not for the expected long duration. As the protective levels are not as expected and due to the occurrence of many variants of SARS-CoV-2 and other reasons, multiple doses of the same or combination of the different vaccines is advocated at this present situation. In addition, antivaxxers have hindered or tried to hinder the vaccination process in many countries around the world. There are other aspects, such as non-availability of vaccines, non-compliance and others to be taken note in regards to COVID vaccines. Time will tell the factual outcome of the COVID vaccines. Get protected against COVID infection through COVID vaccines for whatever the outcome of the vaccination may be.

COVID-19 vaccine attitude: A review on turkey

The study investigates the anti-vaccine attitude and the attitude towards COVID-19 in Turkey. Within the scope of the study, an online questionnaire was applied to 564 volunteers with a convenience sampling technique between 21/05/2021 and 01/06/2021. Analysis was performed with descriptive and inferential statistical analysis techniques and a multiple probit model. As a result of the estimation, it has been determined that negative claims about the vaccine have an increasing effect on the probability of being vaccinated or undecided, according to the probability of being vaccinated. It has been seen that it has a reducing effect on their thoughts about making the vaccine compulsory. Opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine has become global, and people's behaviors endanger their health, public health, and global health due to the following unscientific theories that need to be further examined scientifically. In particular, awareness-raising activities for individuals, more efficient use of social media channels for communication, support of countries' academic studies on the subject, and transparent sharing of scientific data with the public will change the attitude toward vaccines. When we look at the literature, it has been seen that social media channels are neglected in the vaccination attitude. However, it was found to be an essential factor in line with the findings obtained from the study. For this reason, it is thought that it will contribute to future studies. © 2022 The Authors.

Principles of Forming a Strategy for Reducing the Psychological Tension of Social Network Users

Aims: The purpose of the study was to develop principles of a strategy for influencing the psychological state of social network users using the example of the Russian-language segment of Twitter, one of the reasons for which is the lack of awareness about aspects of the coronavirus infection. Background(s): In contrast to the existing works on mood management and Emotion Regulation Strategies, there are principles based not on emotional regulation (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), but on information processing of the content of social media messages and forums. Objective(s): The objective of the study was to develop principles of a strategy for reducing the psychological tension of social network users (further - Strategy) based on the Russian-language segment of Twitter. Method(s): The proposed research methodology includes a study of the discussion field in the active forum of the Runet (the qualitative aspect of emotionality as a reflection of psychological tension) and the Russian-language segment of Twitter (the quantitative aspect of terminology frequency). The qualitative research consisted in isolating the sensitive words used by vaccine opponents to describe their beliefs. A multi-stage methodology has been developed for the meaningful analysis of Twitter users' messages. Result(s):. The result of the study is a methodology for developing principles of the Strategy. Based on this methodology, the following aspects of the problem have been developed: 1) the principle of clarifying the definition of psychological tension;2) the principle of comparing the user and scientific meanings of terms, taking into account the contexts of their use;3) the principle of contextual comparison of the user's and scientific meanings of the term;4) the principle of visual popularization of scientific knowledge. Conclusion(s): An original methodology was created for developing principles of the Strategy. In contrast to the existing works on mood management and Emotion Regulation Strategies, there are principles based not on emotional regulation (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression [1]), but on information processing of the content of social media messages and forums. Other: A new approach to reducing the psychological tension of social media users can contribute to sharing timely, accurate and positive information about COVID-19, and reduce excessive discussions about COVID-19, which can positively affect the psychological well-being of the general public. Copyright © 2022 Khakimova et al.

Celebrity Admiration, Conspiratorial Belief, and Anti-vaccination Attitudes: Examining Relationships and Establishing Pragmatic Research

Vaccinations, conspiracy theories, and celebrities are all popular topics in contemporary society. Anti-vaccination attitudes and conspiratorial beliefs, especially, have emerged as more prevalent against the backdrop of the 2020 election and Covid-19 pandemic. Martinez-Berman et al. (2020), collected data on these topics prior to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and found a positive relationship between anti-vaccination attitudes and celebrity admiration. Further, there were positive relationships between conspiratorial beliefs and dimensions of celebrity admiration. In this study, we replicated and extended this work to a university-aged sample, to document anti-vaccination attitudes and conspiratorial beliefs at a different time of the Covid-19 pandemic, and to conduct a validity check of the single-item Belief in Conspiracy Theories scale with a more sophisticated measure of conspiratorial belief, the General Conspiratorial Belief (GCB) scale. We discovered overall attitudes toward vaccinations to be similar to those in the prior study. However, participants in our study reported lower mistrust of vaccinations and greater concern for future effects of vaccinations than participants in the previous study. In contrast to the results of the prior study, we found that interest in celebrities was not a significant predictor of vaccination attitudes. We discussed the results in the context of the replication and extension nature of the project and present goals for future research into the relationships among the key variables. © NAJP.