【Research】Association between conspiracy beliefs and vaccination readiness among healthcare workers in Japan

We are pleased to announce that a paper by Aya Saitoh and colleagues from our laboratory has been published in the international journal Vaccine: X.

Using data from the JACSIS 2024–2025 survey, this study examined the association between vaccine- and COVID-19-related conspiracy beliefs and vaccination readiness among healthcare workers in Japan. The analysis included 25,082 participants, of whom 982 were healthcare workers.

The results showed that healthcare workers with higher levels of conspiracy beliefs tended to have lower vaccination readiness. This association remained after accounting for sex, age, educational attainment, household income, residential area, and work setting. The association also appeared to be stronger among healthcare workers in clinical settings than among those in non-clinical settings. In contrast, no statistically significant association was observed between conspiracy beliefs and actual COVID-19 vaccination status between April and September 2024.

This study suggests that, even among healthcare workers in Japan, beliefs related to vaccines and COVID-19 may be associated with psychological readiness and acceptance of vaccination. These findings may serve as basic evidence for considering the importance of educational and communication support that enables healthcare workers to access reliable information and respond appropriately to misinformation and disinformation.

Article information

Aya Saitoh, Masaki Machida, Takahiro Tabuchi.

Conspiracy beliefs and vaccination readiness among Japanese healthcare workers: A nationwide cross-sectional study (JACSIS 2024–2025).

Vaccine: X.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvacx.2026.100821