The reluctance of people to get vaccinated represents a fundamental challenge to containing the spread of deadly infectious diseases1,2, including COVID-19. Identifying misperceptions that can fuel vaccine hesitancy and creating effective communication strategies to overcome them are a global public health priority3-5. Medical doctors are a trusted source of advice about vaccinations6, but media reports may create an inaccurate impression that vaccine controversy is prevalent among doctors, even when a broad consensus exists7,8. Here we show that public misperceptions about the views of doctors on the COVID-19 vaccines are widespread, and correcting them increases vaccine uptake. We implement a survey among 9,650 doctors in the Czech Republic and find that 90% of doctors trust the vaccines. Next, we show that 90% of respondents in a nationally representative sample (n = 2,101) underestimate doctors' trust; the most common belief is that only 50% of doctors trust the vaccines. Finally, we integrate randomized provision of information about the true views held by doctors into a longitudinal data collection that regularly monitors vaccination status over 9 months. The treatment recalibrates beliefs and leads to a persistent increase in vaccine uptake. The approach demonstrated in this paper shows how the engagement of professional medical associations, with their unparalleled capacity to elicit individual views of doctors on a large scale, can help to create a cheap, scalable intervention that has lasting positive impacts on health behaviour.

• MeSH
• COVID-19 * prevence a kontrola   MeSH
• důvěra MeSH
• konsensus * MeSH
• lékaři * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• odkládání očkování psychologie   statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• průzkumy a dotazníky MeSH
• společnosti lékařské MeSH
• vakcinace * statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• vakcíny proti COVID-19 * aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• veřejné mínění MeSH
• veřejné zdravotnictví MeSH
• zdravé chování MeSH
• zdraví - znalosti, postoje, praxe * MeSH
• zdravotní výchova * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• vakcíny proti COVID-19 * MeSH