![]() More generally, there is evidence that societal-level trust in science is related to vaccine confidence. ![]() ![]() A study in Italy during the initial COVID-19 outbreak found that trust in scientists and health authority experts initially increased, and predicted better knowledge about COVID-19. We hypothesise that trust in government and a positive view of the government’s handling of the crisis will predict higher vaccine willingness, while vaccine distrust/mistrust, and mistrust/distrust of government, predict greater hesitancy (H1). In our first hypothesis, we therefore contend that multiple facets of trust are crucial in understanding vaccine uptake. Individuals may not trust the government, but be more willing to ”follow the science” and trust scientific or health experts. ![]() Another found a link between trust, conspiratorial beliefs, and vaccine hesitancy. A recent survey in England found that those endorsing conspiracy theories were less likely to adhere to government guidelines, and had a general distrust in institutions. Trust is confidence in the action of others, mistrust measures vigilance in whether actors or information are trustworthy, and distrust denotes a negative orientation towards institutions or actors. Background and Hypothesesīased on previous literature, we test three hypotheses. In order to empirically inform these urgent issues, we present the results of a survey fielded during the first vaccine rollout in the UK between 12 and 18 December 2020, on a nationally representative sample of 1476 adults, complemented with 5 focus groups conducted during roughly the same period (see Supplementary Information, SI). Conspiracy and anti-vax beliefs and low trust in institutions are associated with a greater reliance on social media for health information, but research on this topic until now has primarily used small, selective samples (e.g., MTurk). But who does the public trust, and does trust depend on where the public acquire their information? The growth in Internet use and reliance on social media sources such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok has changed the landscape of information gathering, with 72% of Americans and 83% of Europeans using the Internet as a source for health information. This can generate vaccine hesitancy, which the WHO listed as one of the top 10 threats to global health in 2019. COVID-19 is not only a pandemic, but an ”infodemic” of complex and dynamic information-both factual and incorrect. Trust is crucial to ensuring compliance with public health measures, but governments and experts have needed to communicate uncertain advice, and even reversals in advice, eroding public trust. Governments are rapidly mobilising vaccines against COVID-19, with success relying on sufficient uptake yet there is a rise in vaccine hesitancy, linked to loss of trust, complacency, and misinformation. ![]() More attention needs to be devoted to helping people understand their own risks, unpacking complex concepts, and filling knowledge voids. Since an increasing number of individuals use social media for gathering health information, interventions require action from governments, health officials, and social media companies. In particular, those who obtain information from relatively unregulated social media sources-such as YouTube-that have recommendations tailored by watch history, and who hold general conspiratorial beliefs, are less willing to be vaccinated. Trust in health institutions and experts and perceived personal threat are vital, with focus groups revealing that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is driven by a misunderstanding of herd immunity as providing protection, fear of rapid vaccine development and side effects, and beliefs that the virus is man-made and used for population control. Trust is a core predictor, with distrust in vaccines in general and mistrust in government raising vaccine hesitancy. We use a nationally representative survey of 1476 adults in the UK between 12 and 18 December 2020, along with 5 focus groups conducted during the same period. As COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out across the world, there are growing concerns about the roles that trust, belief in conspiracy theories, and spread of misinformation through social media play in impacting vaccine hesitancy. ![]()
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