Although conspiracy theories are only endorsed by a minority, conspiracy theories can nonetheless compromise public health measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals who endorse conspiracy theories were less likely to wear masks, comply with social distancing, or get vaccinated. This poses a challenge to public health policy, in particular because vaccine uptake lags behind targets because of resistance from a relatively small, but highly vocal, number of people. One policy tool is to enact vaccine mandates, which, while controversial, have successfully increased vaccination uptake. In this article, we review the evidence about whether mandates can be successful, and whether they trigger increased opposition and conspiracy beliefs. We discuss the implications for using mandates in public health policy and argue that decisions about mandates need to be weighed against the consequences of alternative measures—which may also increase conspiracy beliefs albeit for different reasons.

尽管阴谋论仅得到少数人的支持，但阴谋论仍然可能损害控制 COVID-19 大流行的公共卫生措施。支持阴谋论的人戴口罩、遵守社交距离或接种疫苗的可能性较小。这对公共卫生政策构成了挑战，特别是因为由于人数相对较少但呼声很高的人的抵制，疫苗的接种落后于目标。一项政策工具是颁布疫苗强制令，尽管存在争议，但已成功提高了疫苗接种率。在本文中，我们回顾了有关授权是否能够成功，以及它们是否引发更多反对和阴谋信念的证据。我们讨论了在公共卫生政策中使用强制令的影响，并认为有关强制令的决定需要与替代措施的后果进行权衡——尽管出于不同的原因，这也可能会增加阴谋论的信念。