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IntroductionVaccine safety is a primary concern among vaccine hesitant individuals. We examined how seven persuasive messages with different frames, all focusing on vaccine safety, influenced Malaysians to accept the COVID-19 vaccine, and recommend it to individuals with different health and age profiles; i.e. healthy adults, elderly, and people with pre-existing health conditions. MethodsA randomized controlled experiment was conducted among 5,784 Malaysians who were randomly allocated into 14 experimental arms. They were exposed to one or two messages that promoted COVID-19 vaccination. Interventional messages were applied alone or in combination and compared against a control message. Outcome measures were assessed as intent to both take the vaccine and recommend it to healthy adults, elderly, and people with pre-existing health conditions, before and after message exposure. Changes in intent after message exposure were modeled and we estimate the average marginal effects with respect to changes in the predicted probability of selecting a positive intent for all four outcomes. ResultsThe average baseline proportion of participants with positive intents in each arm to take, and recommend the vaccine to healthy adults, elderly, and people with pre-existing health conditions was 61.6%, 84.9%, 72.7% and 51.4% respectively. We found that persuasive communication via several of the experimented messages improved recommendation intent to people with pre-existing health conditions, with improvements ranging between 4 to 8 percentage points. In contrast, none of the messages neither significantly improved vaccination intentions, nor recommendations to healthy adults and the elderly. Instead, we found evidence suggestive of backfiring among this group with messages using negative frames, risky choice frames, and priming descriptive norms. ConclusionPersuasive messages aimed at influencing vaccination decisions should incorporate a combination of factors linked to hesitancy. Messages intended to promote recommendation of novel health interventions to people with pre-existing health conditions should incorporate safety dimensions. Clinical Trials registration numberNCT05244356 Key Messages1. What is already known?O_LIPersuasive messages have been shown to influence COVID-19 vaccination intentions, but evidence from Low- and Middle-income countries are limited. C_LIO_LIThere are limited studies investigating the effect of persuasive messages in influencing decisions to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine, with only a single study to date which investigated effects directed at recommending the COVID-19 vaccine to a friend, but without considering the individuals health and age profile. C_LI 2. What are the new findings?O_LIPersuasive messages that focused on vaccine safety did not positively influence Malaysian adults to take the COVID-19 vaccine or recommend it to healthy adults and the elderly, while messages framed as descriptive norms, negative attribute, and risky choices, significantly backfired for some of these outcomes. C_LIO_LISeveral persuasive messages focusing on vaccine safety significantly improved intent to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to people with pre-existing health conditions. C_LI 3. What do the new findings imply?O_LIInstead of only addressing safety, persuasive messages aimed at nudging vaccination should incorporate multiple behavioral determinants linked to vaccine acceptance. C_LIO_LIPersuasive messages that are intended to promote uptake of novel health interventions should incorporate safety dimensions as a form of assurance for others to recommend it to people with pre-existing health conditions, given that they may be perceived as more susceptible to hazards from adverse events. C_LI
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Objectives@#The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has set a precedent for the fastest-produced vaccine as a result of global collaboration and outreach. This study explored Malaysians’ acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine and its associated factors. @*Methods@#A cross-sectional anonymous web-based survey was disseminated to Malaysian adults aged ≥18 years old via social media platforms between July 10, 2020 and August 31, 2020. @*Results@#In the analysis of 4,164 complete responses, 93.2% of participants indicated that they would accept the COVID-19 vaccine if it was offered for free by the Malaysian government. The median out-of-pocket cost that participants were willing to pay for a COVID-19 vaccine was Malaysian ringgit (MYR) 100 (interquartile range [IQR], 100) if it was readily available and MYR 150 (IQR, 200) if the supply was limited. Respondents with a low likelihood of vaccine hesitancy had 13 times higher odds of accepting the COVID-19 vaccine (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.69 to 19.13). High perceived risk and severity were also associated with willingness to be vaccinated, with adjusted odds ratios of 2.22 (95% CI, 1.44 to 3.41) and 2.76 (95% CI, 1.87 to 4.09), respectively. Age and ethnicity were the only independent demographic characteristics that predicted vaccine uptake. @*Conclusion@#Public health strategies targeting perceived risk, perceived susceptibility and vaccine hesitancy could be effective in enhancing vaccine uptake.
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Background@#Dengue patients in Malaysia have the choice to seek care from either public or private sector providers. This study aims to analyse the pattern of health facility use among dengue patients to provide input for the ongoing policy discussion regarding public–private integration. The focus of this study is in the Klang Valley, which has a high dengue burden as well as a high number of private facilities.@*Methods@#This is a cross-sectional study using an available secondary data source – the Malaysian national dengue passive surveillance system, e-Dengue registry. A total of 61 455 serologically confirmed dengue cases from the Klang Valley, registered in year 2014, were included. We retrospectively examined the relationship between demographic factors and the choice of health-care sector by logistic regression.@*Results@#The median age of the cohort was 26 (interquartile range: 17 to 37) years. More private facilities (54.4%) were used for inpatient care; more public facilities (68.2%) were used for outpatient care. The Chinese and urban populations showed significantly higher use of the private health-care sector with an adjusted odds ratio of 4.8 [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.6–5.1] and 2.3 (95% CI: 2.2–2.4), respectively.@*Conclusion@#Both public and private health facilities bear significant responsibilities in delivering health-care services to dengue patients. The workload of both sectors should be included in future health policy planning by public agencies.