The social experience of participation in a COVID-19 vaccine trial: Subjects’ motivations, others’ concerns, and insights for vaccine promotion

BACKGROUND: Vaccine hesitancy could undermine the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination programs. Knowledge about people’s lived experiences regarding COVID-19 vaccination can enhance vaccine promotion and increase uptake. AIM: To use COVID-19 vaccine trial participants’ experiences to identify key themes in the lived experience of vaccination early in the vaccine approval and distribution process. METHODS: We interviewed 31 participants in the Iowa City, Iowa US site of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine phase 3 clinical trial. While trial participation differs from clinical receipt of an approved vaccine in key ways, it offers the first view of people’s lived experiences of potentially receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. The trial context is also useful since decision-making about vaccination and medical research participation often involve similar hopes and concerns, and because the public appears to view even approved COVID-19 vaccines as experimental given their novelty. Semi-structured interviews addressed subjects’ experiences, including decision-making and telling others about their trial participation. We analyzed verbatim transcripts of these interviews thematically and identified common themes relevant for vaccination decision-making. RESULTS: Participants across demographic groups, including age, sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and political affiliation, described largely similar experiences. Key motivations for participation included ending the pandemic/restoring normalcy, protecting oneself and others, doing one’s duty, promoting/modeling vaccination, and expressing aspects of identity like being a helper, career-related motivations, and support of science/vaccines. Participants often felt uniquely qualified to help via trial participation due to personal attributes like health, sex/gender or race/ethnicity. They reported hearing concerns about side effects and the speed and politicization of vaccine development. Participants responded by normalizing and contextualizing side effects, de-politicizing vaccine development, and explaining how the rapid development process was nevertheless safe. CONCLUSION: These findings regarding participants’ reported motivations for trial participation and interactions with concerned others can be incorporated into COVID-19 vaccine promotion messaging aimed at similar populations.