The COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten public health globally. To develop effective interventions and campaigns to raise vaccination rates, policy makers need to understand people's attitudes towards vaccination. We examine the perspectives of people in India, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on the administration of different COVID-19 vaccines. We analyse how public opinion and emotional tendencies regarding the COVID-19 vaccines relate to popular issues on social media. We employ machine learning algorithms to forecast thoughts based on the social media posts. The prevailing emotional tendency indicates that individuals have faith in immunisation. However, there is a likelihood that significant statements or events on a national, international, or political scale influence public perception of vaccinations. We show how public health officials can track public attitudes and opinions towards vaccine-related information in a geo-aware manner, respond to the sceptics, and increase the level of vaccine trust in a particular region or community.
Keywords: COVID-19; machine learning; sentiment analysis; social media; vaccinations.
© The Author(s) 2023.