TY - JOUR
T1 - Corowa-kun
T2 - A messenger app chatbot delivers COVID-19 vaccine information, Japan 2021
AU - Kobayashi, Takaaki
AU - Nishina, Yuka
AU - Tomoi, Hana
AU - Harada, Ko
AU - Tanaka, Kyuto
AU - Matsumoto, Eiyu
AU - Horimukai, Kenta
AU - Ishihara, Jun
AU - Sasaki, Shugo
AU - Inaba, Kanako
AU - Seguchi, Kyosuke
AU - Takahashi, Hiromizu
AU - Salinas, Jorge L.
AU - Yamada, Yuji
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2022/7/30
Y1 - 2022/7/30
N2 - Background: There is a long history in Japan of public concerns about vaccine adverse events. Few studies have assessed how mobile messenger apps affect COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Methods: Corowa-kun, a free chatbot, was created on February 6, 2021 in LINE, the most popular messenger app in Japan. Corowa-kun provides instant, automated answers to 70 frequently asked COVID-19 vaccine questions. A cross-sectional survey with 21 questions was performed within Corowa-kun during April 5–12, 2021. Results: A total of 59,676 persons used Corowa-kun during February–April 2021. Of them, 10,192 users (17%) participated in the survey. Median age was 55 years (range 16–97), and most were female (74%). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy reported by survey respondents decreased from 41% to 20% after using Corowa-kun. Of the 20% who remained hesitant, 16% (1,675) were unsure, and 4% (3 6 4) did not intend to be vaccinated. Factors associated with vaccine hesitancy were: age 16–34 (odds ratio [OR] = 3.7; 95% confidential interval [CI]: 3.0–4.6, compared to age ≥ 65), female sex (OR = 2.4; Cl: 2.1–2.8), and history of a previous vaccine side-effect (OR = 2.5; Cl: 2.2–2.9). Being a physician (OR = 0.2; Cl: 0.1–0.4) and having received a flu vaccine the prior season (OR = 0.4; Cl: 0.3–0.4) were protective. Conclusions: A substantial number of people used the chabot in a short period. Mobile messenger apps could be leveraged to provide accurate vaccine information and to investigate vaccine intention and risk factors for vaccine hesitancy.
AB - Background: There is a long history in Japan of public concerns about vaccine adverse events. Few studies have assessed how mobile messenger apps affect COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Methods: Corowa-kun, a free chatbot, was created on February 6, 2021 in LINE, the most popular messenger app in Japan. Corowa-kun provides instant, automated answers to 70 frequently asked COVID-19 vaccine questions. A cross-sectional survey with 21 questions was performed within Corowa-kun during April 5–12, 2021. Results: A total of 59,676 persons used Corowa-kun during February–April 2021. Of them, 10,192 users (17%) participated in the survey. Median age was 55 years (range 16–97), and most were female (74%). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy reported by survey respondents decreased from 41% to 20% after using Corowa-kun. Of the 20% who remained hesitant, 16% (1,675) were unsure, and 4% (3 6 4) did not intend to be vaccinated. Factors associated with vaccine hesitancy were: age 16–34 (odds ratio [OR] = 3.7; 95% confidential interval [CI]: 3.0–4.6, compared to age ≥ 65), female sex (OR = 2.4; Cl: 2.1–2.8), and history of a previous vaccine side-effect (OR = 2.5; Cl: 2.2–2.9). Being a physician (OR = 0.2; Cl: 0.1–0.4) and having received a flu vaccine the prior season (OR = 0.4; Cl: 0.3–0.4) were protective. Conclusions: A substantial number of people used the chabot in a short period. Mobile messenger apps could be leveraged to provide accurate vaccine information and to investigate vaccine intention and risk factors for vaccine hesitancy.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134613431&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.06.007
DO - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.06.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 35750541
AN - SCOPUS:85134613431
SN - 0264-410X
VL - 40
SP - 4654
EP - 4662
JO - Vaccine
JF - Vaccine
IS - 32
ER -