Republicans are 3 times more likely than Democrats to believe falsehoods about COVID-19

(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

published 8 November 2021

A shocking number of Americans believe falsehoods about COVID-19 and the coronavirus vaccine, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll has found.

Nearly eight in 10, or 78 percent, of those polled said they either believed or were unsure about at least one false statement about COVID-19. The false statements included things like "COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to cause infertility" and "the COVID-19 vaccines contain a microchip."

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Only one in five adults surveyed didn't believe any of the eight falsehoods, while nearly half believed or were unsure about one to three of them. Aside from partisan differences, the other biggest gaps were between vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans — "Unvaccinated adults are at least 20 percentage points more likely than vaccinated adults to lack knowledge about each piece of misinformation tested," says Kaiser.

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