Exploring the Role of Chatbots in Tackling COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women in Rural Northern India

Abstract

Rapid and widespread vaccination played a major role in stemming the flow of Covid-19 spread. In India, the government enabled free and accessible vaccination for Covid-19. Although the general public responded positively, pregnant and breastfeeding women in rural areas hesitated about COVID-19 vaccination, leading to low vaccine uptake. In this work, we started with a formative study to understand pregnant and breastfeeding women's vaccine hesitancy. We found that the main barriers were poor knowledge about vaccines and limited agency around vaccination. We deployed a chatbot over WhatsApp to tackle their hesitancy through evidence-based vaccine education. We studied the chatbot engagement of 800+ participants over 23 days through chat logs, surveys, and interviews. We present participants' experiences and aspirations around chatbots. We found the chatbot to work well under a constrained network to build participants' vaccine-related knowledge and intentions. We further discuss the role of chatbots in healthcare beyond COVID-19 vaccination.