Debunk, Inform, Avoid? Debunking vaccine-related misinformation: a rapid evidence review

BACKGROUND: Misinformation about COVID-19 has proliferated in digital and physical environments throughout the pandemic, undermining public health efforts to tackle the virus. Developing effective ways to counter COVID-19 misinformation and its spread has therefore become a key challenge for policymakers, public health practitioners, and communications professionals. OBJECTIVE: To identify, characterise and synthesise accumulating research knowledge about COVID-19 misinformation in order to provide stakeholders with evidence they need to help tackle the spread and impacts of misinformation in COVID-19 and future public health emergencies. KEY COMPONENTS: This project had two components: Living evidence map: An evidence map comprising bibliographic records of published articles reporting empirical research studies on misinformation in COVID-19, organised by topic and other selected study characteristics. From May to December 2022, this map was continuously maintained as a 'living map'. In December 2022, we stopped maintaining this map and published a final archived version. Rapid evidence review: A rapid review of research evidence that aimed to address the following question: For whom and/or under what circumstances is debunking misinformation about vaccines likely to be more effective than either providing accurate information only, or not responding, for: • Reducing people’s vaccine-related misinformation beliefs; • Changing people’s attitudes to vaccines; • Reducing people’s vaccine hesitancy or resistance, or increasing their intentions to be vaccinated; and/or • Increasing people’s uptake of vaccines