Exploring Fears About The Covid-19 Vaccines: The Impact Of Misinformation On Willingness To Accept Vaccination

Abstract

Many people believe in conspiracy theories related to COVID-19. An example of an unfounded belief is that the
pandemic is part of a plan to impose global control over people through vaccinations. This belief increases
distrust of vaccines although vaccines are an important tool against life-threatening and debilitating diseases.
In this work, the opinions of university educators and students were surveyed to find out participant sources of
information about the COVID-19 vaccines and to ascertain the extent this information influences decisions
concerning willingness to be vaccinated. Basic information about the currently available vaccines were provided
then participants were asked about their readiness to receive the vaccine.
The results revealed that the percentage of people (32.0%) willing to take the vaccine before receiving accurate
and reliable information about the safety of the vaccines was not significantly different (33.1%) after receiving
information about the safety of the vaccines. This suggests that a statistically significant proportion of people are
not willing to receive the vaccine, which may represent a risk of delaying an end to the global pandemic. This
study raises the alarm that people's confidence in vaccines that can aid in the fight against the COVID-19
pandemic may be significantly inhibited by unfounded fears about COVID-19 and the vaccines against it.