Anticipating a side effect makes it more likely you'll experience it – this could contribute to vaccine hesitancy

  • Written by: Hamish John Wilson, Associate Professor in General Practice, University of Otago
Anticipating a side effect makes it more likely you'll experience it – this could contribute to vaccine hesitancynocebo

The COVID pandemic has highlighted several interesting features of modern medical practice – most recently the “nocebo” response, which may account for a significant number of side effects people experience following vaccination.

Nocebo responses (from Latin noci: to harm) are the opposite of the better known placebo. While...

Read more: Anticipating a side effect makes it more likely you'll experience it – this could contribute to vacc...