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COVID-19 vaccine rumors and conspiracy theories: The need for cognitive inoculation against misinformation to improve vaccine adherence

PloS one, 2021-05, Vol.16 (5), p.e0251605-e0251605 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

COPYRIGHT 2021 Public Library of Science ;2021 Islam et al 2021 Islam et al ;ISSN: 1932-6203 ;EISSN: 1932-6203 ;DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251605 ;PMID: 33979412

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  • Title:
    COVID-19 vaccine rumors and conspiracy theories: The need for cognitive inoculation against misinformation to improve vaccine adherence
  • Author: Islam, Md Saiful ; Kamal, Abu-Hena Mostofa ; Kabir, Alamgir ; Southern, Dorothy L ; Khan, Sazzad Hossain ; Hasan, S M Murshid ; Sarkar, Tonmoy ; Sharmin, Shayla ; Das, Shiuli ; Roy, Tuhin ; Harun, Md Golam Dostogir ; Chughtai, Abrar Ahmad ; Homaira, Nusrat ; Seale, Holly
  • Lavorgna, Luigi
  • Subjects: Analysis ; Biology and Life Sciences ; Computer and Information Sciences ; Conspiracy theories ; Influence ; Medicine and Health Sciences ; Social media ; Social Sciences ; Vaccines
  • Is Part Of: PloS one, 2021-05, Vol.16 (5), p.e0251605-e0251605
  • Description: Rumors and conspiracy theories, can contribute to vaccine hesitancy. Monitoring online data related to COVID-19 vaccine candidates can track vaccine misinformation in real-time and assist in negating its impact. This study aimed to examine COVID-19 vaccine rumors and conspiracy theories circulating on online platforms, understand their context, and then review interventions to manage this misinformation and increase vaccine acceptance. In June 2020, a multi-disciplinary team was formed to review and collect online rumors and conspiracy theories between 31 December 2019-30 November 2020. Sources included Google, Google Fact Check, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, fact-checking agency websites, and television and newspaper websites. Quantitative data were extracted, entered in an Excel spreadsheet, and analyzed descriptively using the statistical package R version 4.0.3. We conducted a content analysis of the qualitative information from news articles, online reports and blogs and compared with findings from quantitative data. Based on the fact-checking agency ratings, information was categorized as true, false, misleading, or exaggerated. We identified 637 COVID-19 vaccine-related items: 91% were rumors and 9% were conspiracy theories from 52 countries. Of the 578 rumors, 36% were related to vaccine development, availability, and access, 20% related to morbidity and mortality, 8% to safety, efficacy, and acceptance, and the rest were other categories. Of the 637 items, 5% (30/) were true, 83% (528/637) were false, 10% (66/637) were misleading, and 2% (13/637) were exaggerated. Rumors and conspiracy theories may lead to mistrust contributing to vaccine hesitancy. Tracking COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in real-time and engaging with social media to disseminate correct information could help safeguard the public against misinformation.
  • Publisher: United States: Public Library of Science
  • Language: English
  • Identifier: ISSN: 1932-6203
    EISSN: 1932-6203
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251605
    PMID: 33979412
  • Source: Public Library of Science (PLoS) Journals Open Access
    Geneva Foundation Free Medical Journals at publisher websites
    PubMed Central
    ProQuest Central
    DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals
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