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Boosting COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake Using Wastewater Surveillance

NCT06698497 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 40

Last updated 2025-09-15

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

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.

Conditions

  • Vaccine Uptake

Interventions

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.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Syracuse University

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2024-09-13
Primary Completion
2024-11-24
Completion
2025-07-10

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06698497 on ClinicalTrials.gov