Communicating doctors' consensus persistently increases COVID-19 vaccinations

The reluctance of people to get vaccinated represents a fundamental challenge to containing the spread of deadly infectious diseases(1,2), including COVID-19. Identifying misperceptions that can fuel vaccine hesitancy and creating effective communication strategies to overcome them are a global public health priority(3-5). Medical doctors are a trusted source of advice about vaccinations(6), but media reports may create an inaccurate impression that vaccine controversy is prevalent among doctors, even when a broad consensus exists(7,8). 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.

Automated summary

The reluctance of people to get vaccinated poses a fundamental challenge to containing the spread of infectious diseases. This study reveals widespread misperceptions about doctors' views on COVID-19 vaccines, and correcting these misperceptions increases vaccine uptake.