How Media Literacy, Trust of Experts and Flu Vaccine Behaviors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Intentions

Purpose To assess how previous experiences and new information contributed to COVID-19 vaccine intentions. Design Online survey (N = 1264) with quality checks. Setting Cross-sectional U.S. survey fielded June 22-July 18, 2020. Sample U.S. residents 18+; quotas reflecting U.S. Census, limited to English speakers participating in internet panels. Measures Media literacy for news content and sources, COVID-19 knowledge; perceived usefulness of health experts; if received flu vaccine in past 12 months; vaccine willingness scale; demographics. Analysis Structural equation modelling. Results Perceived usefulness of health experts (b = .422, P < .001) and media literacy (b = .162, P < .003) predicted most variance in vaccine intentions (R-squared=31.5%). A significant interaction (b = .163, P < .001) between knowledge (b = -.132, P = .052) and getting flu shot (b = .185, P < .001) predicted additional 3.5% of the variance in future vaccine intentions. An increase in knowledge of COVID-19 associated with a decrease in vaccine intention among those declining the flu shot. Conclusion The interaction result suggests COVID-19 knowledge had a positive association with vaccine intention for flu shot recipients but a counter-productive association for those declining it. Media literacy and trust in health experts provided strong counterbalancing influences. Survey-based findings are correlational; thus, predictions are based on theory. Future research should study these relationships with panel data or experimental designs.