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Louise Thomas
Editor
Covid vaccine misinformation is spreading among Americans, according to a national survey of nearly 1,500 adults.
The misinformed belief that vaccinations were responsible for thousands of deaths had increased by 6 percent, said the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, since a previous survey in 2021.
The latest survey was carried out in mid-July, in the midst of a summer Covid surge in the US. While infections have fallen in recent weeks, health authorities are gearing up for a renewed wave as we go into fall and more people gather indoors.
The new survey was released just a week before the Food and Drug Administration announced it had approved updated Covid vaccines.
The survey found that the inaccurate belief that it is safer to be infected with the virus than to receive protection from the vaccine, increased by 12 percent in a little over a year.
And those who wrongly believe that getting the vaccine changes people’s DNA increased by 7 percent.
However, the academics said the survey did reveal some encouraging signs. The majority of adults surveyed (65 percent) held beliefs on vaccines that were consistent with the science.
There was an increase in respondents who believe allergic reactions to vaccines are very rare, up from 61 percent in 2021 to 65 percent in July.
Still, this year’s responses show a decline in support for vaccines overall -with the lowest support for Covid vaccines. The most recent data, from August 2023, shows 66 percent of those surveyed believe the benefits of the Covid vaccine outweighed any possible risks.
Billions of people around the world have received Covid vaccines since they were first authorized in December 2020. Hundreds of millions of people received the vaccine in the U.S. during the pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the benefits of vaccination continue to outweigh potential risks, and that serious side effects are rare.
While getting Covid does provide some protection from the virus, it wanes over time. It is still recommended that people who have been recently infected get updated Covid vaccines.
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