Exploring the Effect of Video Interventions on Intentions for Continued COVID-19 Vaccination

While COVID-19 vaccine uptake has generally been high in Canada, with 83.4% of the total population having received the first two doses (i.e., primary series), additional "booster" uptake has been slower, especially among young adults aged 18-39. Throughout the pandemic, young adults have experienced less personal risk from COVID-19 infection and this has led to lower motivation to vaccinate when it is recommended. Achieving high rates of up-to-date vaccine coverage is important in this group to anticipate new variants and waves of infection and changes to recommendations which might include annual or seasonal vaccination. Three video interventions, intended to motivate Canadian young adults to adopt positive intentions toward continued COVID-19 vaccination, will be developed and tested: an informational comparison video, an altruistic video, and an individualistic video. Participants will be 3300 Canadian younger adults who will be randomly assigned to watch these videos. The first arm will only receive the informational video, the second arm the informational and altruistic videos, and the third arm the informational, altruistic, and individualistic videos. All participants will complete a brief online survey before and after viewing the assigned video(s). The goal of the study is to examine the efficacy of altruistic and individualistic messages, beyond informational messages, in increasing intentions for COVID-19 vaccination in this age group.