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Doctors can help build trust in COVID-19 vaccines
1 June, 2022
A research study just published in the leading scientific journal Nature suggests that correcting public misperceptions about medical doctors' opinions persistently increases Covid-19 vaccinations.
Co-authored by Vojtěch Bartoš, Michal Bauer, Jana Cahlíková and Julie Chytilová, the study shows that public misperceptions about doctors' views on Covid-19 vaccinations reduce willingness to get vaccinated. The study documents that the vast majority of medical doctors in the Czech Republic trust and support vaccination, but that there is a widespread belief among the public that doctors’ opinions are divided and that only about half trust the vaccines. Informing people that there is a broad positive consensus among doctors persistently increases vaccination uptake by the public. Thus, effectively communicating doctors' true views can play an important role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We found that clearly communicating the strong consensus of the benefits of vaccination among doctors is a cheap way to persistently increase interest in vaccination," summarizes one of the study‘s co-authors, Michal Bauer of CERGE-EI in Prague.
Original research paper: Vojtěch Bartoš, Michal Bauer, Jana Cahlíková and Julie Chytilová (2022): Communicating doctors’ consensus persistently increases Covid-19 vaccinations.
Nature, June 1, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04805-y
Intro image: University Hospital Bulovka. Photo by Vladimír Šigut, Charles University
