"Doctors Also Don't Get COVID-19 Vaccines" Is a Lie [Reading Science]

German Munich University Research Team Introduces Czech Experiment Results
90% of Doctors Trust Vaccines, Czech Citizens Think "Half of Doctors Are Not Trusted"
Properly Informing 'Misinformation' Increases Vaccine Trust and Vaccination Rates

On the 25th, when the 4th COVID-19 booster vaccination for those aged 60 and over who made advance reservations began, a citizen is receiving the vaccine at Bumin Hospital in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. April 25, 2022 Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] "They said they didn’t get vaccinated because they don’t even trust Dr. ○○ or Dr. △△."

This is a common phrase heard among COVID-19 vaccine skeptics. The logic is that if even expert doctors cannot be trusted, how could one trust the vaccine, leading a significant number of people to believe this and refuse vaccination. However, contrary to these 'rumors,' almost all doctors trust the COVID-19 vaccine, and experimental results show that simply informing the public of this fact increases vaccination rates.

A research team from the University of Munich in Germany published a study with these findings on the 2nd in the international academic journal Nature. The team confirmed this through experiments conducted last year in the Czech Republic. First, they conducted a survey of 9,650 doctors in the Czech Republic and found that 90% of doctors trusted the vaccine. However, the Czech public held incorrect preconceptions. A survey of 2,101 adults, sampled according to population structure by age and gender, revealed that 90% believed doctors only trusted the vaccine about 50% of the time. This misinformation negatively affected the entire Czech Republic, resulting in lower vaccination rates compared to other countries.

Subsequently, the research team conducted a full-scale experiment. Over nine months, they informed 2,101 Czech citizens who had responded to polls twelve times that Czech doctors overwhelmingly agreed on the vaccine’s reliability and monitored their reactions. Among them, 1,051 consistently participated in the surveys, and the team confirmed that vaccine trust increased among respondents, ultimately leading to more people vaccinating themselves.

The research team explained, "These results show the necessity for professional medical organizations to actively intervene and widely inform the public of doctors’ actual views on the COVID-19 vaccine," adding, "This can be a low-cost, easy, and continuous intervention to encourage citizens to engage in healthy behaviors such as vaccination."