Text message “nudges” that initially increased Covid vaccine uptake were not effective later in pandemic

By Matthew Warren Last year a paper made headlines with the finding that basic text message reminders can increase uptake of the Covid vaccine. In fact, we covered the research right here at Research Digest. As we wrote at the time, the results showed that simple techniques to “nudge” people into taking the vaccine could have a substantial impact if applied across the population. But according to a new study in Nature, these nudges have a pretty limited shelf-life. The team finds that timing really matters: while text message reminders increased uptake immediately after the vaccine became available, later in the pandemic they were no longer effective. In the original paper, researchers studied people who had just become eligible for the vaccine. A day after they were notified that they were eligible, some participants received a reminder text message, which included a link to book a slot for vaccination. Others didn’t receive the reminder. The team found that participants who got the reminder were more likely to book an appointment, and were also more likely to have received the vaccine within four weeks. Reminders that included ownership language, telling people that a vaccine had “just been made available for you” and to “claim your dose”, were particularly effective. But this study took place in January and February 2021 when vaccines had only just become available, and participants received the messages as soon as they were eligible. So Nath...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Coronavirus Source Type: blogs