Those who believe vaccine misinformation are more likely to believe political falsehoods
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Only 8% of nearly 25,000 Americans correctly identified all false political claims presented to them as part of a recent national survey.
The survey also found that those who believed false vaccine statements were more than twice as likely to believe inaccurate claims about politics when compared with those who could correctly identify false vaccine claims.
The researchers surveyed 24,948 American adults across all 50 states between Dec. 22, 2022, and Jan. 17, 2023, and asked respondents to identify popular vaccine and political misinformation claims as true or false. “Not sure” was included as a third option.
The study, “Health and Political Misperceptions in the U.S.,” was conducted by the COVID States Project, a multi-university research collaborative that includes Northwestern, Harvard, Northeastern and Rutgers universities.
Vaccine misperceptions
Responses to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, such as claims that vaccines may cause infertility, alter DNA or contain microchip trackers, revealed that overall, 20% of Americans endorsed at least one misperception. Another 45% did not endorse any vaccine misperceptions, but were uncertain about the accuracy of some claims.
The survey shows that the number of Americans believing false information about vaccines has remained consistent since the COVID States Project began its national polling in March 2020.
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