ArticleProgress in molecular biology and translational science2022
Vax attacks: How conspiracy theory belief undermines vaccine support.
Article in Progress in molecular biology and translational science, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Relationship Between COVID-19 Vaccine Regret, Distrust of the Healthcare System, and Future Vaccine Intentions.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2026Article
- Relationships Between Vaccine Knowledge, Hesitancy, and Conspiracy Beliefs on COVID-19, Influenza, and HPV Vaccination.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Panel Data on Perceived Electoral Legitimacy using Two Independent Samples.Scientific data · 2025Article
- COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Rates and Associated Factors in Racially Diverse Parents in Canada: The Threat From Conspiracy Beliefs and Racial Discrimination.Journal of medical virology · 2025Article
- "They Only Silence the Truth": COVID-19 retractions and the politicization of science.Public understanding of science (Bristol, England) · 2025Article
- COVID-19 vaccination uptake and receptivity among veterans enrolled in homelessness-tailored primary health care clinics: provider trust vs. misinformation.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Article
- Exploring vaccine hesitancy in digital public discourse: From tribal polarization to socio-economic disparities.PloS one · 2024Article
- Cyber anti-intellectualism and science communication during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Determinants for hesitancy in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake among school girls in Jimma Town, Ethiopia. A mixed approach: quantitative and qualitative.Reproductive health · 2023Article
- Article
- Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) Scale: a Bifactor-ESEM approach in a youth sample (15-24 years).BMC psychology · 2023Article
- Conspiracy beliefs, COVID-19 vaccine uptake and adherence to public health interventions during the pandemic in Europe.European journal of public health · 2023Article
- Health Preparedness and Narrative Rationality: A Call for Narrative Preparedness.International journal of health policy and management · 2023Article
- In the Face of a Pandemic: "I Felt the Same as When the War Started"-A Qualitative Study on COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in Bosnia and Herzegovina.International journal of public health · 2023Article
- COVID-19, Anti-Intellectualism, and Health Communication: Assessing the Chinese Social Media Platform Sina Weibo.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Partisanship and Covid-19 vaccination in the UK.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
As the world continues to respond to the spread of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease commonly known as COVID-19), it has become clear that one of the most effective strategies for curbing the pandemic is the COVID-19 vaccine. However, a major challenge that health organizations face when advocating for the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine is the spread of related misinformation and conspiracy theories. This study examines factors that influence vaccine hesitancy using two online survey samples, one convenience and one nationally representative, collected in the early summer of 2020 during the height of the second peak of coronavirus cases in the United States. Given extant literature on vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy belief, we expect that three factors-conspiracy theory belief, political identity, and anti-intellectualism-have served to reduce COVID-19 vaccination likelihood. Accordingly, across our two independent samples we find that anti-intellectualism, conspiratorial predispositions, and COVID-19 conspiracy theory belief are the strongest and most consistent predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Notably, we also find that partisanship and political ideology are inconsistently significant predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy once conspiracy theory beliefs, anti-intellectualism, and control variables are accounted for in the models. When political tendencies are significant, they demonstrate a relatively small substantive association with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. We discuss implications for ongoing mass vaccination efforts, continued widespread vaccine hesitancy, and related political attitudes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.