Vaccine ‘misinfodemic’ sparks worry

Anti-vax sentiment is becoming more entrenched among nearly a third of Kiwis — a trend one leading scientist has blamed on a social mediadriven “misinfodemic”.

The findings, published by University of Auckland researchers, come from the first longitudinal survey to track Kiwis’ attitudes to vaccination over time.

While 60 per cent of those surveyed remained highly confident vaccines were safe, the study found 30 per cent were growing more sceptical.

The paper, using data from the 20-year New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, which regularly polls more than 18,000 Kiwis on various topics, looked at vaccination perceptions between 2013 and 2017.

“The data did show a quite high number — 30 per cent — of people who are less supportive of vaccination now than they were five years ago and the danger is that trend will continue, which poses a challenge in terms of public health messaging,” lead author Carol Lee said.

Survey participants were asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the statement “It is safe to vaccinate children following the standard NZ immunisation schedule” on a scale of one to seven, with a seven denoting strong agreement.

Respondents split on the vaccination question fell into distinct groups.

“Believers” tended to agree with the statement at the upper end of the scale and made up 60 per cent of the total, while “sceptics” made up 30 per cent and generally agreed at less than five on the scale, while also showing a falling level of agreement over time.

The study also turned up another group of 10 per cent who had become more positive about vaccination. It further pointed to some general trends among demographics: Europeans, men, those from richer areas and those with a higher education level were more likely to be “believers”. Older people, women, and those with a generally lower level of education were more likely to be vaccine sceptics.

The Immunisation Advisory Centre’s director, Nikki Turner, said anti-vaccination sentiment was a challenge — and would be even more important if a coronavirus vaccine was found.

“We are living in an age of the misinfodemic, where information flows abundantly but not all of it is true,” said Helen Petousis-Harris, a University of Auckland vaccinologist. “Some information is deliberately manufactured into dangerous conspiracy theories. We are seeing polarisation on many issues all over the world and it is both disturbing and dangerous.”