A new nationwide study conducted by Facebook, Delphi and Carnegie Mellon University has revealed that only 74.4% of Cameron County residents would be willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine if it were offered to them today.
To support the vaccine’s effective delivery, Facebook announced Tuesday that it is launching the largest worldwide campaign to date to promote accurate information about the COVID vaccine by providing insights on vaccine attitudes, helping people find where they can get vaccinated, funding vaccine information campaigns and removing misinformation on the platform.
Cameron County’s rate of vaccine acceptance compares to a rate of 61.6% for Texas as a whole, 79% for Hidalgo County and 67% for Nueces County, according to the study.
Facebook’s Data for Good program is providing new insights on vaccine attitudes in order to guide the vaccine’s distribution and increase immunization rates. The symptom survey project, created by Carnegie Mellon University has received over 50 million responses to date, and has been expanded to understand which geographic areas are the most reluctant to receive the vaccine and could hold back the U.S. and the world from reaching herd immunity, said Laura McGorman, public policy manager for the Data for Good team.
Similar to its efforts around voter registration last year, Facebook will soon feature links in the COVID-19 Information Center to local health websites to help people understand whether they’re eligible to get vaccinated and how to do so, making it easier for people to see where and when they can get vaccinated in just a few taps, McGorman said.
She said the project is in the process of reaching out to local health care providers and others to provide relevant information and insights about the virus and COVID-19 vaccines. She noted that while a quarter of the population in Cameron County might be reluctant to take the vaccine, that figure decreases significantly when people are told by their family doctor or family and friends that the vaccine is safe and effective.
Facebook is also taking important additional steps to stop the spread of misinformation about vaccines, including:
>> Removing vaccine misinformation posts that are widely debunked hoaxes and removing additional false, harmful claims about COVID-19.
>> Removing more Facebook pages and groups and Instagram accounts that repeatedly share false COVID-19 conspiracy theories and other false vaccine claims, and
>> Turning on Mandatory Post Approval (MPA) for groups with administrators or members who have violated our COVID-19 policies.
