An interventional study of Communication Campaign in Vaccine Uptake, sponsored by Syracuse University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-09-15.
Sponsored by Syracuse University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
Vaccinations are among the most successful and critical public health interventions. Despite the enormous protection that vaccines provide to public health, both delays and refusals of vaccines (vaccine hesitancy) are on the rise. Given that low vaccination rates present both an individual and community risk, it is critical that measures are taken to increase vaccination uptake in both rural and urban counties in New York. Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to be a leading indicator of pending surges. This study will examine whether a communications campaign based upon SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance data can increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
Forty counties have been selected for the communication campaign (20 in the treatment group and 20 in the control group). A difference-in-differences method will be applied to assess the impact of the communications campaign on vaccine uptake, which observes the outcomes between a control and treatment group over pre- and post-intervention time periods. The communications campaign will be evaluated using the change in vaccination status of residents of the treatment and control counties. Outcomes will also be compared between demographic groups including race and ethnicity because of differences in vaccination rates that have been already observed.
We hypothesize that information regarding COVID-19 provided by wastewater surveillance that is geographically based and more local to communities will increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake. This theory of local information having an impact on health behavior is a novel application of the health belief model to increase vaccine uptake.
36 studies on the registry are indexed under Vaccination Hesitancy; 7 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 40 is below the median of 300 across 33 interventional studies indexed under Vaccination Hesitancy.
Browse Vaccination Hesitancy studies →Syracuse University is the lead sponsor of 33 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Behavioral: Communication Campaign
A social media vaccine communications campaign is deployed once increasing amounts of SARS-CoV-2 RNA are identified in the New York State wastewater surveillance network. The social media campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and NextDoor social media platforms will run for 11 weeks. The campaign disseminates information about the wastewater surveillance network and vaccination (not COVID-19 specific) to residents in intervention counties. These social media platforms not only allow for quick and cost-effective exposure, but also allow for participation and interaction with participants. The campaign ads include a call-to-action link to the New York State wastewater surveillance network webpage which has information and links regarding vaccines for respiratory transmitted pathogens (COVID-19, influenza, and RSV) and how to schedule an appointment.
COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake
The change in vaccination coverage among residents of the counties in the study will be measured as the percent of the population that received a vaccine dose.
Time frame: 11 weeks
This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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