  Incorporating social factors into disease prevention and control efforts is
an important undertaking of behavioral epidemiology. The interplay between
disease transmission and human health behaviors, such as vaccine uptake,
results in complex dynamics of biological and social contagions. Maximizing
intervention adoptions via network-based targeting algorithms by harnessing the
power of social contagion for behavior and attitude changes largely remains a
challenge. Here we address this issue by considering a multiplex network
setting. Individuals are situated on two layers of networks: the disease
transmission network layer and the peer influence network layer. The disease
spreads through direct close contacts while vaccine views and uptake behaviors
spread interpersonally within a potentially virtual network. The results of our
comprehensive simulations show that network-based targeting with pro-vaccine
supporters as initial seeds significantly influences vaccine adoption rates and
reduces the extent of an epidemic outbreak. Network targeting interventions are
much more effective by selecting individuals with a central position in the
opinion network as compared to those grouped in a community or connected
professionally. Our findings provide insight into network-based interventions
to increase vaccine confidence and demand during an ongoing epidemic.
