ABSTRACT:

Health risk ensued by the COVID-19 had caused widespread increase in mortality rates in the philippines. Vaccines had been developed to curb its spread. However, the upsurge of the anti-vaccination organization, with its opinion posted on social media; has led to different arguments towards confidence in vaccines. This study was aimed to assess the influence of the level of exposure and beliefs on social media pertaining to the COVID-19 vaccine confidence among the youths in Tagbilaran City, through the Google form online-based surveys, in which the descriptive correlational method was employed. In total, there were 390 selected participants, aged from 18 to 24 years old, who were all active social media users; out of 15,602 youths through the stratified random sampling. This study spanned for a year, from September 3, 2022 to September 3, 2023. The data were analyzed and presented using descriptive and inferential statistics, particularly Chi-Square Test of Independence. Primarily, Facebook was found to have the highest level of exposure, with 3.47 numerical value, to the youths; which was followed by Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok and Twitter. Secondarily, the overall level of belief of the youths in COVID-19 vaccine information of social media was very high (3.34). Lastly, it has been found that the youths had a very high level of COVID-19 vaccine confidence (3.47). Furthermore, it has been found that a moderate correlation exists between the youths’ social media beliefs and COVID-19 vaccine confidence (r-value=0.465) and there is a significant relationship between the beliefs and exposures to social media to the COVID-19 vaccine confidence of the youths (p-value=0.001). Therefore, exposure to and beliefs on the mainstream social media platforms were crucial factors underlying the youth’s vaccine confidence.

College of Health Sciences Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology