Thread by @drvyom

So a few weeks ago, I met someone (not a patient) who said 'Hmm I don't think I'll get the vaccine, I heard it may cause infertility' - (a comprehensively debunked piece of misinformation).

Well, yesterday I overheard him saying something that made me laugh with joy.

That first time we spoke, I asked him where he'd heard this claim of infertility (he couldn't remember). I told him I'd heard something similar too, and looked into it. I told him where the claim originated, and why I didn't believe it. He went 'huh'.

I didn't know for sure if he was persuaded by this. In a way I was too late - two other people I know were now also repeating this false claim. Where did they hear it from? From him. Misinformation was miles in front of truth.
But I also had time - I knew I'd see him frequently.

Every time I'd see him, he'd bring up something.
'But they've rushed it', 'how can they know long term effects'. Despite saying that he wouldn't get the vaccine, it was clear to me that he wasn't anti-vax per se. But his reasoning was motivated by perception of risks to self.

Notably he didn't seem to have any broader ideological stances underpinning these beliefs (anti-establishment, anti-science/medicine, religious etc). I answered his questions, spoke about benefits/harms of vaccinating vs not, how everyone can have a different risk tolerance.

I didn't push hard because I don't think there was much to push back against. Some people do have a deeper ideological underlying world view that bolsters false beliefs. They'll engage identity protective cognition.
But some don't! Often facts *are* enough to change minds.

I felt I was making progress when last week he asked me the differences between AZ and Pfizer vaccines. I started simple, but then went into as much detail as I thought he could take - erring on the side of more rather than less nuance. I avoided "100% effective" simplicity.

Well, yesterday he was unaware that I overheard him next door, saying to someone,
"look maybe Pfizer is better than AZ, I don't know yet, but for someone like me, either is probably going to work well enough. So I'll take either when I can. Maybe later we'll get other vaccines."

I swear he said something v close to this - I'll confirm with him next time I see him. I assume when he said 'someone like me' he was referring to his age group, because we spoke about the lack of data (so far) in over 65s.

He literally changed from being someone who was (inadvertently) spreading misinformation to someone spreading 'good' information. And I think he'll continue to.