Using Text Messages to Improve COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake

Summary

COVID-19 vaccinations significantly reduce the risk of getting seriously ill or dying from COVID-19. Since December 2020, the UK has rolled out vaccinations according to the Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunity (JCVI) priority groups. However, despite data indicating that more than 90% of the UK population intends to get vaccinated, there are geographical and ethnic variations in vaccination acceptance. As younger cohorts with lower risk from COVID-19 become eligible for vaccination, it is expected that uptake rates may also be lower than they have been in previous cohorts.

It was recently announced that a national NHS text message service will be introduced to invite individuals eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine to book a vaccination appointment. Many GP practices and CCGs have already implemented text messages to invite eligible residents and patients for the vaccine.

However, recent research has shown that the message content of text messages inviting members of the public to other preventative health opportunities (e.g. personalised messages and GP-endorsements in cancer screening) can impact uptake.

This 3-arm randomised controlled trial will be conducted across the Central London (CL) Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) which to-date has seen the lowest rates of COVID-19 vaccination uptake in the country. The study aims to investigate the most effective text message strategy to inform local, regional and national practice.

The intervention text message content to be tested is informed by behavioural science theory is personalised to include the recipient's name and GP practice name. All patients in the Central London CCG who are unvaccinated, aged 18-49, who have not declined the vaccine will be included as their cohort becomes eligible for vaccination according to the JCVI guidelines. The trial will compare the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccination by trial arm at 3 and 8 weeks after the intervention is deployed.

Conditions

• Covid19

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Text message content

Behavioural science-informed text messages aimed at improving COVID-19 vaccination uptake.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Central London CCG

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Imperial College Health Partners

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Institute for Global Health Innovations

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• The Behavioural Insights Team

  collaborator OTHER

• Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sarah Huf, MBBS PhD · Imperial College Health Care Trust

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

49 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-05-11

Primary Completion

2021-12-31

Completion

2022-05-11