Public Opinions on COVID-19 Vaccines—A Spatiotemporal Perspective on Races and Topics Using a Bayesian-Based Method
The COVID-19 pandemic has been sweeping across the United States of America since early 2020. The whole world was waiting for vaccination to end this pandemic. Since the approval of the first vaccine by the U.S. CDC on 9 November 2020, nearly 67.5% of the US population have been fully vaccinated by...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Vaccines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/10/9/1486 |
| _version_ | 1797481529888210944 |
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| author | Zifu Wang Yudi Chen Yun Li Devika Kakkar Wendy Guan Wenying Ji Jacob Cain Hai Lan Dexuan Sha Qian Liu Chaowei Yang |
| author_facet | Zifu Wang Yudi Chen Yun Li Devika Kakkar Wendy Guan Wenying Ji Jacob Cain Hai Lan Dexuan Sha Qian Liu Chaowei Yang |
| author_sort | Zifu Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The COVID-19 pandemic has been sweeping across the United States of America since early 2020. The whole world was waiting for vaccination to end this pandemic. Since the approval of the first vaccine by the U.S. CDC on 9 November 2020, nearly 67.5% of the US population have been fully vaccinated by 10 July 2022. While quite successful in controlling the spreading of COVID-19, there were voices against vaccines. Therefore, this research utilizes geo-tweets and Bayesian-based method to investigate public opinions towards vaccines based on (1) the spatiotemporal changes in public engagement and public sentiment; (2) how the public engagement and sentiment react to different vaccine-related topics; (3) how various races behave differently. We connected the phenomenon observed to real-time and historical events. We found that in general the public is positive towards COVID-19 vaccines. Public sentiment positivity went up as more people were vaccinated. Public sentiment on specific topics varied in different periods. African Americans’ sentiment toward vaccines was relatively lower than other races. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:15:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0f0832399d0f4c70a02723ff2ddede5e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-393X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:15:54Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Vaccines |
| spelling | doaj.art-0f0832399d0f4c70a02723ff2ddede5e2023-11-23T19:21:56ZengMDPI AGVaccines2076-393X2022-09-01109148610.3390/vaccines10091486Public Opinions on COVID-19 Vaccines—A Spatiotemporal Perspective on Races and Topics Using a Bayesian-Based MethodZifu Wang0Yudi Chen1Yun Li2Devika Kakkar3Wendy Guan4Wenying Ji5Jacob Cain6Hai Lan7Dexuan Sha8Qian Liu9Chaowei Yang10Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science, NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USADepartment of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USADepartment of Geography and Geoinformation Science, NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USACenter for Geographic Analysis, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USACenter for Geographic Analysis, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USADepartment of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USADepartment of Geography and Geoinformation Science, NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USADepartment of Geography and Geoinformation Science, NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USADepartment of Geography and Geoinformation Science, NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USADepartment of Geography and Geoinformation Science, NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USADepartment of Geography and Geoinformation Science, NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USAThe COVID-19 pandemic has been sweeping across the United States of America since early 2020. The whole world was waiting for vaccination to end this pandemic. Since the approval of the first vaccine by the U.S. CDC on 9 November 2020, nearly 67.5% of the US population have been fully vaccinated by 10 July 2022. While quite successful in controlling the spreading of COVID-19, there were voices against vaccines. Therefore, this research utilizes geo-tweets and Bayesian-based method to investigate public opinions towards vaccines based on (1) the spatiotemporal changes in public engagement and public sentiment; (2) how the public engagement and sentiment react to different vaccine-related topics; (3) how various races behave differently. We connected the phenomenon observed to real-time and historical events. We found that in general the public is positive towards COVID-19 vaccines. Public sentiment positivity went up as more people were vaccinated. Public sentiment on specific topics varied in different periods. African Americans’ sentiment toward vaccines was relatively lower than other races.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/10/9/1486social mediapublic opinionsCOVID-19 vaccinesspatiotemporal analysisrace inequalitybayesian inference |
| spellingShingle | Zifu Wang Yudi Chen Yun Li Devika Kakkar Wendy Guan Wenying Ji Jacob Cain Hai Lan Dexuan Sha Qian Liu Chaowei Yang Public Opinions on COVID-19 Vaccines—A Spatiotemporal Perspective on Races and Topics Using a Bayesian-Based Method Vaccines social media public opinions COVID-19 vaccines spatiotemporal analysis race inequality bayesian inference |
| title | Public Opinions on COVID-19 Vaccines—A Spatiotemporal Perspective on Races and Topics Using a Bayesian-Based Method |
| title_full | Public Opinions on COVID-19 Vaccines—A Spatiotemporal Perspective on Races and Topics Using a Bayesian-Based Method |
| title_fullStr | Public Opinions on COVID-19 Vaccines—A Spatiotemporal Perspective on Races and Topics Using a Bayesian-Based Method |
| title_full_unstemmed | Public Opinions on COVID-19 Vaccines—A Spatiotemporal Perspective on Races and Topics Using a Bayesian-Based Method |
| title_short | Public Opinions on COVID-19 Vaccines—A Spatiotemporal Perspective on Races and Topics Using a Bayesian-Based Method |
| title_sort | public opinions on covid 19 vaccines a spatiotemporal perspective on races and topics using a bayesian based method |
| topic | social media public opinions COVID-19 vaccines spatiotemporal analysis race inequality bayesian inference |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/10/9/1486 |
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