London, Oct 31 (IANS): People had more positive views of Covid-19 vaccines after they asked a chatbot questions about the shots compared to being given a packet of information, a new study suggests.

A team of researchers analysed attitudes about vaccines among a group of people who interreacted with a chatbot and those who read a paragraph on the jabs, Daily Mail reported.

They found that the number of chatbot participants with positive views about Covid shots increased by nearly 40 per cent while the number of those who were hesitant fell by 20 per cent while there was barely any change in the control group.

The French team, from Institut Jean-Nicod and the Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Computationnelles, both in Paris, said the findings show a regularly updated chatbot could be the latest tool used by public health experts to reach large swathes of vaccine-hesitant people.

Since the rollout of Covid-19 shots began in December 2020, vaccine hesitancy has been one of the biggest challenges to overcome, the report said.

Public health officials and organisations have spent millions of dollars running TV and radio ads encouraging people to get the shot.

However, studies and polls have shown that having a conversation is a more effective way to get hesitant people vaccinated.