Developing ways to predict and encourage vaccine booster uptake are necessary for durable immunity responses. In a multi-nation sample, recruited in June-August 2021, we assessed delay discounting (one's tendency to choose smaller immediate rewards over larger future rewards), COVID-19 vaccination status, demographics, and distress level.…

Background: Studies of socio-scientific decision-making in times of crisis are in their infancy. This study investigates how minoritized youth engage and make sense of newly developed COVID-19 vaccines and their intersections with the evolving multi-pandemic. Guided by theories of lively data, data sense and epistemic injustice, we center the…

Administering coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines among the student of higher secondary schools has unprecedented importance for securing community health and ensuring in-person class attainment. This study investigated higher secondary students' COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and identified the underlying sociopsychological determinants of…

The COVID-19 pathogen led to a fast expanding pandemic because it proved lethal in certain populations but could be transmitted by persons who appeared healthy. As a result, researchers came under unprecedented time pressure to develop a vaccine. This case study focuses on the first COVID-19 vaccine, which was approved for use in humans, known as…

The gap in knowledge and information-seeking between high and low socioeconomic status (SES) has been well documented. This study extends this knowledge gap hypothesis to narrative persuasion in the context of parents' knowledge and information-seeking intention concerning adolescents' COVID-19 vaccination. It specifically tests if the gap is…

Despite the proven effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing severe illness, many individuals, including older adults who are most susceptible to the virus, have opted against vaccination. Various factors could shape vaccination decisions, including seeking health information (HI). The internet is the primary source of HI today; however,…

To better prepare undergraduate students as informed citizens, they need skills to evaluate and interpret scientific data that are relevant to real world scenarios. Socioscientific issues are typically complicated or debatable issues that require individuals to evaluate their background knowledge and make decisions with respect to social and…

Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) experience increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent studies suggest that a vaccine against AD may be forthcoming. Parental buy-in is critical to the success of any intervention in this population, as adults with DS often rely on familial support. This study aims to characterize parents' perceptions of…

This paper argues that vice-charging, the practice of charging other persons with epistemic vice, can itself be epistemically vicious. It identifies some potential vices of vice-charging and identifies knowledge of other people as a type of knowledge that is obstructed by epistemically vicious attributions of epistemic vice. The hazards of…

Health-care professionals (HCPs) are key trusted figures in addressing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) challenges. They are thought to influence others' health decisions by personal example. However, during the COVID-19 crisis, some HCPs hesitated to be vaccinated. We examined factors contributing to that decision. We performed 12…

Recent trends in vaccine hesitancy have brought to light the importance of using accurate school vaccination data. This study evaluated the accuracy of a pilot statewide kindergarten vaccination survey in Oklahoma. School vaccination and exemption data were collected from November 2017 to April 2018 via the Research Electronic Data Capture system.…

Objective: Health behavior research suggests that perceived social norms impact health decisions. This study aimed to (a) examine reasons for vaccine hesitancy among a sample of college students compared to a clinical sample (b) examine the accuracy of perceptions of others' receptivity and intention to seek out the COVID-19 vaccine, and (c)…

In a pandemic era, it is necessary to equip individuals with the ability to make informed decisions about health issues, especially in relation to viruses and vaccines. In order to achieve this goal, science educators need to explore students' decisions and reasoning about vaccination. The aim of the study reported in the paper, therefore, is to…

Immune literacy--the ability to hear, learn, read, write, explain, and discuss immunological content with varied audiences--has become critically important in recent years. Yet, with its complex terminology and discipline-specific concepts, educating individuals about the immune system and its role in health and disease may seem daunting. Here, we…

This paper presents an analysis of the socio-scientific dimensions which 46 11th graders, enrolled in the subject scientific culture, consider to justify their COVID-19 vaccination decision and how they managed to combine and integrate these dimensions before and after working on a sequence of activities aimed at learning about argumentation in…