Assessing the utilization of social media campaigns for COVID-19 vaccine intake in North Central, Nigeria

Abstract COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is a worldwide phenomenon and a threat to the pandemic control efforts by the Nigerian government. Social media has proven to be a veritable tool in championing the campaign on the safety of COVID-19 vaccine globally. This paper examined the role of social media in enlightening the residents of North-Central, Nigeria against the conspiracy theory that the COVID-19 vaccine was produced to reduce the population of developing nations such as Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey design, using questionnaire as instrument for data collection and anchored on the Uses and Gratification theory. The study sampled 300 respondents randomly; 100 from each of the three states. Plateau, Benue and Nassarawa were selected to represent the North Central region. Findings revealed among others that there is high level of involvement in the social media campaign for the safety of COVID-19 vaccine in North-Central region. The study concludes that social media has effectively broken the jinx of the so-called conspiracy theory and encouraged Nigerians to ignore the notion that the vaccine was meant to reduce Africa’s population and accept the vaccine as safe for the human body. Key Words: COVID-19, Vaccine, Social Media, NCDC, Health Communication About the Authors * Blessing Arsun Dapoet is a Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria and a doctoral student at Bingham University, Karu, Nigeria. Her research interests are in development communication, media and society, new and social media, and indigenous knowledge for development. ** Tahnaan Rosemary Moven is a Lecturer with the University of Jos, Nigeria and a doctoral student with Nassarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria. Her areas of research interest are development communication and international communication. JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 15, No. 1, Special Issue 3, July 2023, pp. 157-167 © Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON). Article Citation Dapoet, B. A. & Moven, T. R. (2023). Assessing the utilization of social media campaigns for COVID-19 vaccine intake in North Central, Nigeria. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 15 (1, SP.3): 157-167. Full Article Words: 5,747 Pages: 11 To access full article, click on download.