Framing the COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria : an analysis of Nigerian media : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication and Journalism at Massey University, Wellington Campus, New Zealand

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy is one stumbling block in managing the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak globally. Documented evidence shows vaccine hesitancy has existed for more than 100 years, with unnecessary mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases than otherwise might have happened. This is true in Nigeria; where the COVID-19 vaccination campaign suffered major setbacks, due to misinformation, fake news, and a lack of trust and suspicion of the vaccine’s safety. Against this background, the influence of news framing came to the forefront as soon as the COVID-19 vaccination campaign was rolled out in Nigeria and the health authorities began urging citizens to get vaccinated. The media framing of the COVID-19 vaccine has arguably contributed to the rising COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and the 39% vaccination rate (as of March 2024). Stiff-anti-vaccination sentiment, building on prior assumptions among the lay publics, coalesced into hesitancy against the COVID-19 vaccination among many Nigerians. Therefore, this study seeks to examine how Nigerian media framed the COVID-19 vaccination rollout. Identifying the factors that shape/influence the media's framing of the COVID-19 vaccination discussion in Nigeria. Examine the reported barriers to the COVID-19 vaccination adoption in Nigeria. The study adopts mixed methods, content analysis and natural language processing using sentiment analysis to explore data from YouTube videos and Nigerian online newspapers. The research applies the theory of planned behaviour and framing theory as the theoretical foundations to understand how the media (YouTube and Online Newspapers) frame the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Nigeria.