Text4Vax: Understanding the Effectiveness and Implementation of Text Message Reminders for Pediatric COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccines

Text4Vax: Understanding the Effectiveness and Implementation of Text Message Reminders for Pediatric COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccines 

Lead Researchers:

Melissa Stockwell, MD, MPH, FAAP (Columbia University)
Alex Fiks, MD, MSCE, FAAP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) 

Goal of this study:

Our overarching goal is to better understand the effectiveness and implementation of COVID-19 vaccine and influenza (flu) vaccine text message reminders. No previous studies have looked at these two vaccines together (now recommended annual vaccines) in the context of asking whether combining text messages make it more likely to get each vaccine?

Summary of Study Design:

Text4Vax will take place over 3 seasons. Text message reminders will be sent to parents with varied backgrounds and whose children are cared for in diverse practice settings.
Before Season 1, the text messages (English or Spanish) will be pre-tested with about 20 parent volunteers from practices in the PROS network. 
Seasons 1 and 2 will be a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) in which parents are randomized into one of four study arms: 1) combined COVID-19 and influenza text message reminders; 2) COVID-19 text message reminders alone; 3) influenza text message reminders alone; or 4) no text message reminders. Messages will be sent through a centralized service. Season 2 will be a replication study to validate the approach in Season 1 with refinement. 
In Season 3, practices will implement the text messaging that was most effective for each practice on their own to assess the sustainability of the text messaging intervention. 
A limited number of parents and practice staff will take part in interviews after Seasons 2 and 3. 

Participants:  

Up to 20 practices across the United States in the PROS network will take part. Practices will primarily use the Physicians Computer Company (PCC) Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system; other practices are eligible if they can extract and securely transfer their EMR data. Families with children 6 months to 17 years will receive the text messages.  

Study Duration:

• April 2024 – February 2028

Funding:

NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

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