Communicating doctors' consensus persistently increases COVID-19 vaccinations

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Behavioral Science
• Vaccinology

Background:

• Vaccine hesitancy poses a significant global health challenge, hindering infectious disease containment.
• Medical doctors are a trusted source for vaccination advice, yet public perception may inaccurately reflect their consensus.
• Addressing public misperceptions about healthcare professionals' views is crucial for effective health communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate public misperceptions regarding doctors' trust in COVID-19 vaccines.
• To assess the impact of correcting these misperceptions on vaccine uptake.
• To develop and evaluate a scalable communication strategy to improve vaccination rates.

Main Methods:

• A survey of 9,650 doctors in the Czech Republic to determine their vaccine trust levels.
• A national survey of 2,101 individuals to assess public perceptions of doctors' vaccine trust.
• A randomized controlled trial integrating belief-correction information into longitudinal vaccination status monitoring over nine months.

Main Results:

• 90% of surveyed doctors expressed trust in COVID-19 vaccines.
• A significant majority of the public (90%) underestimated doctors' trust, believing only 50% trusted the vaccines.
• Providing accurate information about doctors' vaccine trust led to a persistent increase in vaccine uptake.

Conclusions:

• Widespread public misperceptions about doctors' vaccine confidence exist.
• Correcting these misperceptions is an effective and scalable intervention to increase vaccine uptake.
• Engaging medical associations can facilitate large-scale interventions to improve health behaviors.