A recent study conducted by Penn Medicine identified the best methods to debunk COVID-19 vaccination misinformation.
The study — which involved 890 adults in the United States with concerns about vaccine safety — targeted three different strategies to disprove falsehoods: presenting a lie then a fact, presenting fact, lie, then fact, and finally presenting a standalone fact.
Participants were randomized and exposed to one of the three types of myth-debunking strategies before completing a questionnaire to gauge whether or not they intended to receive the vaccine or booster.
The study found that participants developed stronger intentions to receive the vaccine or booster after being exposed to the myth-followed-by-fact methodology.
“Vaccines are only effective if people take them,” Jessica Fishman, the director of the Message Effects Lab, said. “Part of ensuring broader distribution of vaccines is having a proven way to deliver factual information about them.”
The myth-then-fact methodology has been criticized in the past for the risk of repeating or reinforcing vaccination myths while attempting to correct them with accurate information. However, Fishman and her team believe that this strategy may have received an undeservedly poor reputation based on previous study results.
“The results of this debunking study were interesting because the successful approach is the one with the worst reputation,” Fishman wrote in a statement to the to The Daily Pennsylvanian. "It appears that myths may be harming the reputation of the 'myth followed by fact' debunking strategy, which was effective in our tests.”
The Message Effects Lab, built during the pandemic by now Penn Provost John Jackson Jr., aims to identify specific types of messaging content that positively influenced decisions and behavior.
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Fishman and the lab have collaborated with the World Health Organization and the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“Policy is the most effective strategy. If vaccinations are mandated, they are very effective. Even during the pandemic, when the new vaccine was controversial, mandates were effective,” she said.
Additionally, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Ezekiel Emanuel emphasized the importance of policy and impact within academic research.
“One of the things that Penn emphasizes a lot is not just publications but impact. Getting this [study] outside of an academic publication is supremely important. That traditionally has been the job of CDC,” Emanuel wrote in a statement to the DP. “It’s not clear whether this is something that [the CDC] is ready to do.”
