Text messages can boost vaccination rates against Covid-19: Report

Nudges sent via text messages to patients prior to a primary care visit can boost vaccination rates against influenzas including COVID-19, a study shows.

The study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), shows that texts messages sent to patients prior to a primary care visit and developed by behavioural scientists to encourage vaccine adoption can substantially boost vaccination rates by an average of five per cent at close to zero marginal cost.

In a study of 47,306 individuals in the United States, researchers found that sending two text messages- one sent 72 hours before a primary care visit and another sent 24 hours