ArticleCommunications medicine2025
Uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine and its association with vaccine information and misinformation in Malawi.
Article in Communications medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe information environment may be an important determinant of vaccination and other health behaviors including in low-income countries.
methodsWe administered a survey to 895 Malawian adults, asking about people's COVID-19 vaccination history and their exposure to information (information sources and tone of this information) and misinformation (exposure to and belief in conspiracy theories) about the COVID-19 vaccine.
resultsJust under half (43%) of respondents had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Respondents heard about the COVID-19 vaccine from a median of 7 sources, most commonly from friends and neighbors, health care workers, and radio (each reported by >90%). Social media are the least positively- or neutrally-framed sources of information; and traditional medicine practitioners are the most common negatively-framed source of information. There is less information access among women, rural residents, and people with lower educational attainment. Many people hear conspiracy theories but say that they do not believe them. Hearing more COVID-19 vaccine information is positively associated with COVID-19 vaccination (aOR 1.09, 95% CI [1.03-1.15]), while believing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation is negatively associated (aOR 0.78, 95% CI [0.68-0.89]).
conclusionsVaccination programs should communicate through multiple information sources and find ways to reach groups with less information exposure.
Identifiers
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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.