“One must always check the reverse side of the coin as well” : A qualitative study on the experiences of unvaccinated young adults regarding the authorities' crisis communication about the covid-19 vaccine.

Studier visar att attityder kan vara angelägna faktorer vid beslut om vaccinering samt att medier kan bidra till en minskad tillit för myndigheter och vaccin. Denna studie syftar till att förstå hur ovaccinerade unga vuxna mellan åldrarna 18 till 27 år har upplevt myndigheters kriskommunikation om covid-19 vaccinet samt vilka medier och informationskanaler som användes av intervjupersonerna under pandemin. Studien besvarar därav följande tre forskningsfrågor: - Vilka attityder har ovaccinerade unga vuxna till myndigheters kriskommunikation gällande covid-19 vaccinet? - Vilka medier och informationskanaler har ovaccinerade unga vuxna använt främst under covid-19 och vilka har de upplevt vara mest tillförlitliga? - Kan medier eller myndigheters kriskommunikation ha bidragit till ett vaccinmotstånd hos ovaccinerade unga vuxna? Frågorna besvaras utifrån åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer och i studien presenteras teorier om tillit samt uses and gratifications. I den tematiska analysen har tre huvudteman med följande två underteman framkommit. Samtliga respondenter uppger att de känt negativa attityder gentemot myndigheternas kriskommunikation om vaccinet samt att det funnits en bristande tillit. De uppger även att de under pandemin inhämtat mer användbar information från olika medier än den bristfälliga information som myndigheterna gått ut med avseende vaccinet.Research claims that attitudes can be keen factors in the decisions about vaccination and that the media can contribute to a reduced trust in authorities and vaccines. This study aims to understand how unvaccinated young adults between the ages of 18 to 27 years have experienced the authorities' crisis communication about the covid-19 vaccine and which media and information channels were used by the respondents during the pandemic. The study therefore answers the following three questions: - What attitudes do unvaccinated young adults have towards the authorities' crisis communication regarding the covid-19 vaccine? - What media and information channels have young adults used mainly during covid-19 and which have they found to be the most reliable? - Could media or government crisis communication have contributed to vaccine resistance in young adults? The questions are answered based on eight semi-structured interviews and the study presents theories about trust and uses and gratifications. In the thematic analysis, three main themes with two subthemes have emerged. All respondents stated that they felt negative attitudes towards the authorities' crisis communication about the vaccine and that there was a lack of trust towards them. They also state that during the pandemic they obtained more useful information from various media than the deficient information that the authorities issued regarding the vaccine