Detection and Characterization of Web-Based Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine Discussions and Racial and Ethnic Minority Topics: Retrospective Analysis of Twitter Data

Abstract

Abstract BackgroundDespite pediatric populations representing a smaller proportion of COVID-19 cases and having a less severe prognosis, those belonging to racial and ethnic minority groups are at an increased risk of developing more severe COVID-19–related outcomes. Vaccine coverage is crucial to pandemic mitigation efforts, yet since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine hesitancy has increased and routine pediatric immunizations have decreased. Limited research exists on how vaccine hesitancy may contribute to low pediatric COVID-19 vaccine uptake among racial and ethnic minority populations. ObjectiveThis study aimed to characterize COVID-19 vaccine–related discussion and sentiment among Twitter users, particularly among racial and ethnic minority users. MethodsWe used the Twitter application programming interface to collect tweets and replies. Tweets were selected by filtering for keywords associated with COVID-19 vaccines and pediatric-related terms. From this corpus of tweets, we used the Biterm Topic Model to output topics and examined the top 200 retweeted tweets that were coded for pediatric COVID-19 vaccine relevance. Relevant tweets were analyzed using an inductive coding approach to characterize pediatric COVID-19 vaccine–related themes. Replies to relevant tweets were collected and coded. User metadata were assessed for self-reporting of race or ethnic group affiliation and verified account status. ResultsA total of 863,007 tweets were collected from October 2020 to October 2021. After outputting Biterm Topic Model topics and reviewing the 200 most retweeted tweets, 208,666 tweets and 3905 replies were identified as being pediatric COVID-19 vaccine related. The majority (150,262/208,666, 72.01%) of tweets expressed vaccine-related concerns. Among tweets discussing vaccine confidence, user replies expressing agreement were significantly outweighed by those expressing disagreement (1016/3106, 32.71% vs 2090/3106, 67.29%; P ConclusionsVaccine-related concerns can have negative consequences on vaccine uptake and participation in vaccine-related clinical trials. This can impact the uptake and development of safe and effective vaccines, especially among racial and ethnic minority populations.