Vaccine‐skeptic physicians and patient vaccination decisions
研究了奥地利乡村地区对疫苗持怀疑态度的全科医生如何通过劝阻而非限制疫苗获取，使当地疫苗接种率降低5.6个百分点，影响约7.9%的应接种人群。
What is the role of general practitioners (GPs) in supporting or hindering public health efforts? We investigate the influence of vaccine-skeptic GPs on their patients' decisions to get a COVID-19 vaccination. We identify vaccine-skeptic GPs from the signatories of an open letter in which 199 Austrian physicians expressed their skepticism about COVID-19 vaccines. We examine small rural municipalities where patients choose a GP primarily based on geographic proximity. These vaccine-skeptic GPs reduced the vaccination rate by 5.6 percentage points. This estimate implies that they discouraged 7.9% of the vaccinable population. The effect appears to stem from discouragement rather than rationing vaccine access.