TY - JOUR
T1 - Conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 in Nigeria
T2 - Implications for vaccine demand generation communications
AU - Wonodi, Chizoba
AU - Obi-Jeff, Chisom
AU - Adewumi, Funmilayo
AU - Keluo-Udeke, Somto Chloe
AU - Gur-Arie, Rachel
AU - Krubiner, Carleigh
AU - Jaffe, Elana Felice
AU - Bamiduro, Tobi
AU - Karron, Ruth
AU - Faden, Ruth
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge Dr. Emmanuel Abanida for his contributions and Ms. Kelly Whalen’s invaluable administrative support to the project. We recognize our six implementing partners who provided coordination support for their respective states’ data collection activities. They are Participatory Development Alternatives (Ebonyi State), Basic Foundation for Socio-Economic Development of Rural Women and Youths (Cross River State), Vaccine Network for Disease Control (Federal Capital Territory), Association of OVC NGOs of Nigeria (Gombe State), Mari-Care Foundation for Widows, Single Parents, Orphans and Vulnerable Children (Kano State), and Gender Care Initiative (Lagos). We also recognize our additional data collectors: Winnie David, Ali Racheal, Yahaya Mohammed, Rukayat Bello, Henry Dike Vincent, Arit Egbe, Nsan Ojong, Augustine Onwe, Nelson Chibundu, Adetoyese Oyedokun, and Olamide Omigbile, who conducted the qualitative interviews. This study was made possible through a grant from Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom [Grant Number: 21556/Z/20/Z].
Funding Information:
This study work was supported by Wellcome Trust [Grant Number: 21556/Z/20/Z ] to the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and implemented by Direct Consulting and Logistics. Wellcome Trust was not involved in the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, report writing, and the decision to submit the article for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/3/18
Y1 - 2022/3/18
N2 - Introduction: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is a worldwide phenomenon and a serious threat to pandemic control efforts. Until recently, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was not the cause of low vaccine coverage in Nigeria; vaccine scarcity was the problem. As the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines improves in the second half of 2021 and more doses are deployed in Nigeria, the supply/demand dynamic will switch. Vaccine acceptance will become a key driver of coverage; thus, amplifying the impact of vaccine hesitancy. Conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 are rampant and have been shown to drive vaccine hesitancy and refusal. This study systematically elicits the misinformation and conspiracy theories circulating about COVID-19 among the Nigerian public to understand relevant themes and potential message framing for communication efforts to improve vaccine uptake. Methods: From February 1 to 8, 2021, we conducted 22 focus group discussions and 24 key informant interviews with 178 participants from six states representing the six geopolitical zones. Participants were purposively selected and included sub-national program managers, healthcare workers, and community members. All interviews were iteratively analyzed using a framework analysis approach. Results: We elicited a total of 33 different conspiracy theories or misinformation that participants had heard about the COVID-19 virus, pandemic response, or vaccine. All participants had heard some misinformation. The leading claim was that COVID-19 was not real, and politicians took advantage of the situation and misused funds. People believed certain claims based on distrust of government, their understanding of Christian scripture, or their lack of personal experience with COVID-19. Conclusions: Our study is the first to report a thematic analysis of the range of circulating misinformation about COVID-19 in Nigeria. Our findings provide new insights into why people believe these theories, which could help the immunization program improve demand generation communication for COVID-19 vaccines by targeting unsubstantiated claims.
AB - Introduction: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is a worldwide phenomenon and a serious threat to pandemic control efforts. Until recently, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was not the cause of low vaccine coverage in Nigeria; vaccine scarcity was the problem. As the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines improves in the second half of 2021 and more doses are deployed in Nigeria, the supply/demand dynamic will switch. Vaccine acceptance will become a key driver of coverage; thus, amplifying the impact of vaccine hesitancy. Conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 are rampant and have been shown to drive vaccine hesitancy and refusal. This study systematically elicits the misinformation and conspiracy theories circulating about COVID-19 among the Nigerian public to understand relevant themes and potential message framing for communication efforts to improve vaccine uptake. Methods: From February 1 to 8, 2021, we conducted 22 focus group discussions and 24 key informant interviews with 178 participants from six states representing the six geopolitical zones. Participants were purposively selected and included sub-national program managers, healthcare workers, and community members. All interviews were iteratively analyzed using a framework analysis approach. Results: We elicited a total of 33 different conspiracy theories or misinformation that participants had heard about the COVID-19 virus, pandemic response, or vaccine. All participants had heard some misinformation. The leading claim was that COVID-19 was not real, and politicians took advantage of the situation and misused funds. People believed certain claims based on distrust of government, their understanding of Christian scripture, or their lack of personal experience with COVID-19. Conclusions: Our study is the first to report a thematic analysis of the range of circulating misinformation about COVID-19 in Nigeria. Our findings provide new insights into why people believe these theories, which could help the immunization program improve demand generation communication for COVID-19 vaccines by targeting unsubstantiated claims.
KW - COVID-19 vaccines
KW - Conspiracy theory
KW - Demand generation communication
KW - Misinformation
KW - Nigeria
KW - Risk communication
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U2 - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.02.005
DO - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.02.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 35153088
AN - SCOPUS:85124400330
SN - 0264-410X
VL - 40
SP - 2114
EP - 2121
JO - Vaccine
JF - Vaccine
IS - 13
ER -