  The COVID-19 pandemic has been damaging to the lives of people all around the
world. Accompanied by the pandemic is an infodemic, an abundant and
uncontrolled spreading of potentially harmful misinformation. The infodemic may
severely change the pandemic's course by interfering with public health
interventions such as wearing masks, social distancing, and vaccination. In
particular, the impact of the infodemic on vaccination is critical because it
holds the key to reverting to pre-pandemic normalcy. This paper presents
findings from a global survey on the extent of worldwide exposure to the
COVID-19 infodemic, assesses different populations' susceptibility to false
claims, and analyzes its association with vaccine acceptance. Based on
responses gathered from over 18,400 individuals from 40 countries, we find a
strong association between perceived believability of misinformation and
vaccination hesitancy. Additionally, our study shows that only half of the
online users exposed to rumors might have seen the fact-checked information.
Moreover, depending on the country, between 6% and 37% of individuals
considered these rumors believable. Our survey also shows that poorer regions
are more susceptible to encountering and believing COVID-19 misinformation. We
discuss implications of our findings on public campaigns that proactively
spread accurate information to countries that are more susceptible to the
infodemic. We also highlight fact-checking platforms' role in better
identifying and prioritizing claims that are perceived to be believable and
have wide exposure. Our findings give insights into better handling of risk
communication during the initial phase of a future pandemic.
