Partisan politics played a role in exacerbating public health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new study suggests that partisan politics could also play a role in addressing those challenges—at least when it comes to getting people vaccinated.
July 20, 2023 This article has been reviewed according to Science X’s editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content’s credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread by Matt Shipman, North Carolina State University Partisan politics played a role in exacerbating public health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new study suggests that partisan politics could also play a role in addressing those challenges—at least when it comes to getting people vaccinated. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1449240174198-2’); }); A new study found that online video advertisements, in which Donald Trump urged people to get vaccinated, did lead to an increase in vaccinations—particularly in areas that had previously had low vaccination rates. The study, “Counter-stereotypical Messaging and Partisan Cues: Moving the Needle on Vaccines in a Polarized U.S.,” was published in Science Advances . One of the study co-authors, Steve Greene, is a professor of political science at NC State. We talked with Greene to learn more about the work. Steve Greene: We were hoping to use insights from our earlier work on masking —in which we used ads with General (ret) Hugh Shelton to encourage mask use among NC residents—to see if we could encourage…