Misinformation much more common among unvaccinated adults and Republicans
Misinformation about health care issues is nothing new, but social media, polarization of news sources, and the pace of scientific development on COVID-19 have contributed to an environment that facilitates ambiguous information, misinterpretation, and deliberate misinformation to spread.
According to a new report According to the Kaiser Family Foundation's COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor, more than three-quarters (78 percent) of American adults believe or are unsure of at least one of the eight false claims the organization has debunked about the pandemic or COVID-19 vaccines.
While unvaccinated adults and Republicans are the most likely to have misconceptions, the paper notes.
It also notes that nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of unvaccinated adults believe or are unsure of at least half of the eight false claims, more than three times the proportion of vaccinated adults (19 percent).
Meanwhile, nearly half (46 percent) of Republicans believe or are unsure about at least half of the statements, three times the proportion of Democrats (14 percent).
The findings highlight a major challenge for efforts to accurately communicate the rapidly evolving science about the pandemic when false and ambiguous information can spread rapidly, either inadvertently or deliberately, through social networks, polarized news sources and other media.
The new report assesses public awareness and belief in a number of "myths" about the disease and vaccines to prevent it.
Misconceptions include:
- The majority (60 percent) of adults say they have heard that the government is exaggerating the number of COVID-19 deaths by counting deaths due to other factors, of whom 38 percent believe this is true, or 22 percent are not sure if it is true or false.
- Four in 10 (39 percent) say they have heard that pregnant women should not get the COVID-19 vaccine and believe it is true (17 percent) or are unsure (22 percent).
- 35 percent of adults have heard that the government intentionally hides the number of deaths related to the COVID-19 vaccine, and of those, 18 percent believe it is true and 17 percent believe it is a lie.
- Three in 10 (31 percent) say they have heard that the vaccine causes infertility, and 8 percent believe it or are unsure if it's true, 23 percent.
- 28 percent of American adults have heard that Ivermectin is a safe and effective drug for treating COVID-19, half believe this to be true and half do not.
- The survey revealed that 24 percent of adults have heard that you can get COVID-19 from the vaccine. Fourteen percent believe it's true and 10 percent believe it's not true.
- 24 percent of adults have heard that the COVID-19 vaccine contains a microchip, 7 percent believe this to be true while 17 percent believe it to be a lie.
- Two in 10 people (21 percent) have heard that COVID-19 vaccines change DNA; of those, 8 percent believe the claim to be true and 13 percent believe it to be a lie.
The authors of the paper also detailed that many people believe or are unsure about several of the eight false claims, including about a third who believe or are unsure about at least half of them.
Type of information sources and misconceptions
The analysis reveals that people's trusted news sources are correlated with their belief in COVID-19 disinformation. At least one-third of those who trust information from networks such as CNN, MSNBC, network news, NPR and local television news do not believe any of the eight false statements.
A higher proportion of those who trust COVID-19 information from major conservative news sources believe there is misinformation, with nearly 4 in 10 of those who trust Fox News (36 percent) and One America News (37 percent), and nearly half (46 percent) of those who trust Newsmax, saying they believe or are unsure about at least half of the eight false statements.
Underscoring the self-selection that now occurs in the news sources people trust, Democrats trust COVID-19 information from the network (72 percent) and local television, 66 percent; CNN, 65 percent; MSNBC, 56 percent and NPR ?51 percent? Republicans' most trusted news sources for COVID-19 information are Fox News at 49 percent; local news 34 percent; network, 25 percent; and Newsmax, 22 percent.
Few adults say they rely on social media sources for information on COVID-19, such as YouTube at 13 percent; Facebook , 9 percent; Twitter, 6 percent. and Instagram, 5 percent.
The group most influenced by the information they see on these platforms may be larger than the share who say they trust the information they see there, as KFF surveys have previously found that the proportion of adults who get information about COVID-19 vaccines from social media is about as large as the percentage of people who get information from cable news, networks and local television.
Designed and analyzed by KFF public opinion researchers, the KFF Vaccine Monitor survey was conducted October 14-24 among a nationally representative random telephone survey sample of 1,519 adults.
Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish by landline (168) and cell phone (1,351).
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