COVID-19 vaccine uptake ‘a matter of words’

简单的语言干预有可能提升COVID-19vaccination rates, by strengthening trust in the vaccines, researchers say.

A study published this month in the journal自然科学found that people from bilingual communities in Hong Kong were more likely to agree to having the COVID-19 vaccine after being given information in English, than after receiving it in Cantonese.

研究人员说，他们的发现表明，语言有可能增强全球疫苗的信任。

“对于公共卫生决策者，尤其是在双语人群的国家，语言可能会影响公众对Covid-19疫苗的信任可能会很有趣。”

英国埃克塞特大学商学院助理教授Janet Geipel

心理学家珍妮特Geipel,助理教授the University of Exeter Business School, UK, and lead author of the study, said: “Our ultimate goal with this study was to find a low-cost intervention, which might have potential to increase trust associated with the COVID-19 vaccine and through this reduce vaccine hesitancy.”

The researchers sampled 611 unvaccinated Chinese people living in Hong Kong, who were divided into two groups and given the exact same COVID-19 vaccine information either in English or Cantonese — the two languages predominant in the region.

Participants who read materials about the vaccine in English were seven per cent more likely to say “yes” to having the COVID-19 vaccine and seven per cent less likely to be “unsure” about having the vaccine.

The percentage of people saying ”no” to the vaccine was about the same in both groups.

美国芝加哥大学的心理学教授Boaz Keysar的合着者Boaz Keysar说：“七个百分点听起来可能不多，但实际上在干预措施的背景下是巨大的……1000万人中有7％，例如，很多人。”

According to the researchers, the context in which two different languages are used, and the associations people have with those languages, vary from place to place. Where one language is associated with more public trust than the other, that language should be used to communicate vaccine and other health information, they suggest.

“发现language can influence public trust in COVID-19 vaccines might be interesting for public health policymakers, especially in countries with bilingual populations,” added Geipel.

With more than half the global population using two or more languages in everyday life, she believes language interventions are a practical solution if the local context is properly considered.

Lennah Kinyanjui是AMREF Health Africa的Covid-19响应项目的项目经理，并与肯尼亚的社区合作，那里讲了斯瓦希里语和当地语言。她说：“人们信任以当地的领导者和同龄人的信息，并以当地语言提供。

“Radio messages and radio talk shows in local languages have had greater impact, clarifying myths and misconceptions that have hindered vaccine uptake.”

Kinyanjui认为，教育也是一个重要因素。她说：“文盲或半五十五个语言的人对一种语言的反应更好，特别是当地语言。”

“但是，如果他们从不同来源和不同语言中看到相同的信息，则更多的信任信息。”

The researchers behind the Hong Kong study say their findings should be considered not just as a case study, but as a demonstration of the power of language to enhance trust generally.

Beyond vaccines, language choice could be taken into consideration around the world to provide health information in a variety of contexts, the authors propose, citing cancer screening as an example.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Global desk.