Kaiser Permanente registers COVID vaccine choice messaging trial with Sanofi as collaborator

Kaiser Permanente Southern California registered a new pragmatic trial this week examining vaccine messaging effects on immunization behavior.

• The trial, called "EMPOWeR" (NCT07838038), is a pragmatic randomized controlled trial conducted within Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) to evaluate the effect of immunization messages and reminders that highlight COVID-19 vaccine choices on vaccine uptake.¹ The study is not yet recruiting, with an estimated start date of 2026-09-28. Sanofi is listed as a collaborator, with Kaiser Permanente as lead sponsor.
• Participants will be adults enrolled for care at KPSC who are either 65 years of age or adults aged 18 to 64 years with certain health conditions that place them at increased risk for severe COVID-19 illness.¹
• The design will randomly assign participants to one of five groups, with one group receiving a standard COVID-19 vaccine reminder message currently used in routine care and the other four groups receiving messages that provide information about available COVID-19 vaccine options: mRNA and protein-based COVID-19 vaccines.¹
• The primary goal is to determine whether these different messages increase receipt of the updated 2026-2027 COVID-19 vaccine.¹ Estimated primary completion is 2027-01-31.