The Theatre and Health Education: Impact of Social Media-based Short Drama in Combating COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Nigeria has a long history of vaccine hesitancy and the same scenario  is playing out regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Many people are skeptical in taking the vaccine because of different rumours about itsefficacy as well as safety.

Objective: The goal of this study was to determine the impact of social media-based short drama in reducing vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria.

Methodology: This study was a quasi experimental design involving 470 social media users. The respondents were divided into control and treatment groups. The treatment group was exposed to four   short drama series of 30 minutes each for a period four weeks while the control group were not. The questionnaire was used as the instrument of data collection while independent t-test was used to analyse collected data. Results were presented in tables.

Results: The result of the showed that before the intervention, respondents in both groups reported high COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. However, after the respondents in treatment group reported low COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and indicated readiness to take a dose of the vaccine. However, respondents in the control group did not significantly improve on their vaccine intake intention.

Conclusion: It is concluded that social media –based short drama series could be efficient in reducing vaccine hesitancy in developed countries like Nigeria.

Contribution: This study has provided empirical evidence for  understanding the effectiveness of short drama series in combating the challenge of vaccine hesitancy in developing countries.

Recommendation: It is suggested that health workers and policy makers should consider the use of social media-based short drama series in addressing the problem of vaccine hesitance in developing countries.