Table 2 Endorsement of conspiracy theories and association with COVID-19 vaccine uptake

From: Uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine and its association with vaccine information and misinformation in Malawi

 

Mean (median; SD)

Adjusted odds ratio of vaccinationa (95% CI)

Number of conspiracy theories believe true (i.e., endorsed), Among all

0.56 (0, 1.1)

0.77**

(0.68, 0.89)

Conspiracy theory, believe true (versus do not believe true)

n (%)b

Adjusted odds of vaccination if believed theory to be truea (95% CI)

The government is exaggerating the number of COVID-19 deaths

134 (22.7%)

0.75

(0.47, 1.21)

Big pharmaceutical companies created COVID-19 to profit from vaccines

73 (17.3%)

0.47*

(0.25, 0.89)

The spread of COVID-19 is a deliberate attempt to reduce the size of the global population

122 (16.9%)

0.35***

(0.22, 0.56)

Bill Gates has created COVID-19 in order to reduce the world population

41 (15.2%)

0.37**

(0.19, 0.71)

Deaths due to COVID-19 are being intentionally hidden by the government

33 (10.7%)

0.79

(0.37, 1.72)

The COVID-19 vaccine can change your DNA

25 (8.4%)

0.16*

(0.04, 0.68)

You can get COVID-19 from the vaccine

18 (5.5%)

0.22*

(0.06, 0.83)

The COVID-19 vaccine will be used to carry out mass sterilization

19 (4.1%)

0.31†

(0.09, 1.15)

COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to cause infertility

15 (3.1%)

0.30

(0.07, 1.29)

The COVID-19 virus is a hoax

19 (2.9%)

0.24*

(0.07, 0.86)

  1. †p < 0.1; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
  2. aAdjusted odds include respondent gender (male; or female), age (continuous), location of residence (urban; or rural), HIV status (living with HIV; or not living with HIV or status unknown), educational attainment (no school; primary; secondary; or beyond secondary).
  3. b% calculated among those who have heard each theory.
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