The Guardian: Text reminders could boost vaccine uptake by 26%, study finds

From The Guardian: 

Text message reminders could increase Covid-19 vaccine uptake by as much as 26%, according to research published in Nature on Monday.

Researchers at UCLA and Carnegie Mellon University in the US conducting two randomized controlled trials involving 100,000 patients found simple texts successfully boosted vaccine appointments by as much as 84% and actual vaccinations by as much as 26%.

Including “ownership language” in the form of phrases such as “the vaccine has just been made available to you” and “claim your dose today” further increased appointment and vaccination rates at UCLA Health by 1.51 and 1.09 percentage points respectively.

“Text reminders are both effective and inexpensive tools to motivate people across all demographics to get the vaccine,” said co-lead author Silvia Saccardo, assistant professor in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University Read more at The Guardian. See more media coverage in the following outlets: Nature: A simple text has the power to increase COVID vaccinations  ABC News: UCLA study: Text messages boost number of people who get the COVID-19 vaccine