Language expressed in online forums can highlight which pro-vaccination messages intensify vaccine skepticism and which messages resonate with different populations. This study examined Reddit (an online discussion forum) to analyze what anonymous Canadians disclosed about their rationales for getting vaccinated against COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic. The investigation examined 266 Canadian subreddits (sub-forums on specific topics on Reddit) and evaluated 79 English-language phrases that people commonly use on Reddit to express the reason(s) why they (or someone close to them) chose to get vaccinated/boosted for COVID-19. The findings suggest that machine-learning techniques hold out the promise of a real-time approach toward public health messaging via an iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle.

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