Measuring the Impact of Exposure to COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation on Vaccine Intent in the UK and US
The results of nationally representative surveys suggest exposure to online sources of recent misinformation relating to Covid-19 and vaccines led to an absolute fall of 6.4% (3.8-9.0%) in those who would otherwise ‘definitely’ vaccinate in the UK (54.0% prior to exposure).
Source:
MedRxiv
SPS commentary:
The authors note their findings suggest more respondents would accept a vaccine if it meant protecting family, friends or at-risk groups (63.4% in the UK would ‘definitely’ get vaccinated), and that this may be of particular interest to policymakers “harnessing altruistic messaging devices to boost public compliance with recommended interventions”.
Overall, the main barriers to reporting certainty over vaccinating were concerns over vaccine safety or a belief that they would not be at risk of contracting COVID-19 or would not be ill if they did. A number of socio-economic factors were associated with willingness to accept a vaccine and susceptibility to misinformation.
The authors note that their findings are unlikely to be representative of the effect of misinformation on uptake in real world settings, as there will differences in the volume, rate and types of misinformation people will be exposed to, depending on their use of social media, and there will be a number of other influencing factors. They say their analysis “provides a platform to help us test and understand how more effective public health communication strategies can be designed and on whom these strategies would have the most positive impact in countering COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.”