Communicating doctors’ consensus persistently increases COVID-19 vaccinations

Abstract

The reluctance of people to get vaccinated represents a fundamental challenge to containing the spread of deadly infectious diseases1,2, including COVID-19. Identifying misperceptions that can fuel vaccine hesitancy and creating effective communication strategies to overcome them are a global public health priority3–5. Medical doctors are a trusted source of advice about vaccinations6, but media reports may create an inaccurate impression that vaccine controversy is prevalent among doctors, even when a broad consensus exists7,8. Here we show that public misperceptions about the views of doctors on the COVID-19 vaccines are widespread, and correcting them increases vaccine uptake. We implement a survey among 9,650 doctors in the Czech Republic and find that 90% of doctors trust the vaccines. Next, we show that 90% of respondents in a nationally representative sample (n = 2,101) underestimate doctors’ trust; the most common belief is that only 50% of doctors trust the vaccines. Finally, we integrate randomized provision of information about the true views held by doctors into a longitudinal data collection that regularly monitors vaccination status over 9 months. The treatment recalibrates beliefs and leads to a persistent increase in vaccine uptake. The approach demonstrated in this paper shows how the engagement of professional medical associations, with their unparalleled capacity to elicit individual views of doctors on a large scale, can help to create a cheap, scalable intervention that has lasting positive impacts on health behaviour.

Parents’ intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19

“…In general, with regard to the uncertainty in parents' intentions to get their children vaccinated, the related question is who the relevant agent intervening with parents and providing clear and understandable information about vaccination should be. Trust in physicians could play an important role in improving communication and providing information to parents while still leaving them autonomy in making health decisions (Bartoš et al, 2022).…”

“…Instead of questioning the target group, effective provocation messages should lead to empowerment for fully informed child vaccination decisions (Masaryk & Hatoková, 2017). Another convincing way seems to be correcting people's misperceptions of facts about physicians' vaccination rates (Bartoš et al, 2022).…”

Incorporating Fuzzy Cognitive Inference for Vaccine Hesitancy Measuring

“…Most empirical studies use questionnaires to investigate the public attitude toward COVID-19 vaccines. Recently, a survey published in Nature [28] showed that, though doctors are usually considered as the authority in vaccination promotion, media reports give the false impression that there is widespread vaccine controversy in the doctor community. Enhancing consensus in this community can help improve the public trust level for vaccines.…”

Mis- and Disinformation About Covid-19

“…It has been an important and necessary factor in the transfer of scientific knowledge, the management of uncertainty and fears, and the promotion of behaviour change during the Covid-19 pandemic (Finset et al, 2020;Melki et al, 2022). For example, experimental research revealed that the communication of doctors' consensus on trust in vaccination increased participants' Covid-19 vaccine uptake compared to a control group (Bartoš et al, 2022).…”