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. 2021 May 12;16(5):e0251605.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251605. eCollection 2021.

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

Md Saiful Islam  1   2 , Abu-Hena Mostofa Kamal  3   4 , Alamgir Kabir  2   5 , Dorothy L Southern  6 , Sazzad Hossain Khan  1 , S M Murshid Hasan  7 , Tonmoy Sarkar  1 , Shayla Sharmin  8 , Shiuli Das  1 , Tuhin Roy  9 , Md Golam Dostogir Harun  1 , Abrar Ahmad Chughtai  2 , Nusrat Homaira  10 , Holly Seale  2
Affiliations

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

Md Saiful Islam et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: 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.

Method: 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.

Results: 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.

Conclusions: 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.

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Conflict of interest statement

Associate Professor Holly Seale has previously received funding from drug companies for investigator-driven research and consulting fees to present at conferences/workshops and develop resources (Seqirus, GSK and Sanofi Pasteur). She has also participated in an advisory board meeting for Sanofi Pasteur. This work has been a voluntary contribution from all authors. The commercial affiliation of the authors did not play a role in our study, and this does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies of sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Global distribution of rumors and conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 vaccine, 31 December 2019–30 November 2020.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Rumor and conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 vaccine by country, 31 December 2019–30 November 2020.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Rumors and conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 vaccine circulating on different social media platforms, 31 December 2019–30 November 2020.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Spread of misinformation and internet users search interest related to COVID-19 vaccines, 31 December 2019–30 November 2020.
*Google Trends: Numbers represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. A score of 0 means there was not enough data for this term.
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