Prebunking messaging to inoculate against COVID-19 vaccine misinformation: an effective strategy for public health

Background Vaccination coverage needs to reach more than 80% resolve the COVID-19 pandemic, but vaccine hesitancy, fuelled by misinformation, may jeopardize this goal. Unvaccinated older adults are not only at risk of complications also be misled false information. Prebunking, based on inoculation theory, involves ‘forewarning people [of] and refuting information that challenges their existing belief or behavior’.Objective To assess effectiveness communication strategies in countering disinformation about vaccines among Canadians aged 50 years older, as measured intentions.Method Applying an online experiment with a mixed pre–post design sample size 2500 participants, we conducted national randomized survey English French-speaking March 2021. Responses two different messages were evaluated. Our primary outcome was intention receive vaccine, attitudes toward secondary outcome. The McNemar test multivariate logistic regression analysis paired data when dichotomized. Wilcoxon sign rank Kruskal–Wallis used difference scores between pre- post-tests condition.Results Group comparisons those who received message show prebunking safeguard get vaccinated have protective effect against disinformation.Conclusion Prebunking should considered one strategy for public health combat misinformation.