Boosting COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake Using Wastewater Surveillance

NCT06698497 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 23-327
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief 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

Keywords

COVID-19 vaccine; wastewater surveillance; vaccine campaign; communication campaign; vaccine uptake; vaccine hesitancy; health belief model; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• 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.

  11 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Communications Intervention Group

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Communication Campaign

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Interventions

Communication Campaign BEHAVIORAL

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.

Communications Intervention Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Counties in New York State

You may not qualify if:

• Counties outside of New York State

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Syracuse University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Syracuse University

Syracuse, New York, 13057, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Vaccination Hesitancy; COVID-19; Coronavirus Infections

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Vaccination Refusal; Treatment Refusal; Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior; Behavior; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Respiratory Tract Infections; Infections; Virus Diseases; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 8, 2024
• First Posted: November 21, 2024
• Study Start: September 13, 2024
• Primary Completion: November 24, 2024
• Study Completion: July 10, 2025
• Last Updated: September 15, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Locations

US (1)