The key to getting more Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 could be as simple as sending them text message reminders, a new study suggests.
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) tested different types of text reminders.
When people received reminders, the number of people who scheduled appointments increased by nearly 85 percent.
What's more, texts that conveyed a sense of ownership over the vaccine were the most effective.
The U.S. has struggled to effectively administer the COVID-19 vaccine in recent months, with nearly four months of declining vaccine demand as cases rise.
The most effective text message reminders, the researchers found, were ones that gave the recipient a sense of ownership over a vaccine dose
Researchers, who published their findings in the journal Nature on Monday, split 91,000 unvaccinated participants into five different groups.
Each group was sent one of five types of vaccination reminders the team developed.
One was a simple text reminder to get the vaccine. Another was the same reminder except it had an informational video about the safety of the vaccines attached.
The other two groups received messages that portrayed ownership over the shots.
For example, a person would receive a text that implied a vaccine shot was already reserved for them, they just needed to schedule an appointment to 'claim' it.
One group was sent the ownership message with the informational video, one was not.
The fifth group was not messaged at all, and used as a control.
Around 7.2 percent of patients in the control group scheduled appointments within six days, not requiring a reminder.
Patients who received a reminder were 84 percent more likely to schedule an appointment within the next six days, with 13.2 percent setting up an appointment.
Simple text message reminders could be a simple, cheap, and effective way to boost vaccination rates
Around 14 percent of those who received an ownership reminder were likely to schedule an appointment, compared to around 12 percent of those who received a regular reminder.
Researchers also found that the videos were ineffective in getting people vaccinated, a groups with and without the videos posted the same vaccination rates.
They believe this is because the
