Vaccination is one of the greatest medical achievements in modern history. Prior to the introduction of mass immunization, diseases such as smallpox, measles, and polio, devastated families and communities, not only because of their high mortality rates but also due to their potential life-altering complications. Yet, despite the consensus that vaccination is a vital public health tool, growing numbers of parents express anxiety and concern about the possible risks of vaccines and choose to refuse or delay vaccination for their children. Access to vaccines also remains an issue of concern: even in advanced liberal democracies, some segments of the population experience disproportionately higher exposure to vaccine preventable illnesses.
This symposium brings together several papers across two panels to explore questions about risk communication and vaccine hesitancy, access and uptake. Collectively, both panels are concerned with growing rates of vaccine refusal and delay, and recognize the need to improve uptake of childhood immunization worldwide. They also share an understanding that more rigorous research is needed to understand what factors drive vaccine acceptance and access, and of the importance of developing effective, evidence-driven interventions using risk communication.
The papers in Panel 2 focus on groups with differing demographic characteristics and backgrounds, and the impact of these factors on vaccination uptake and acceptance. Karlien Strijbosch examines the health experiences and risk communication needs for Syrian parents of young children living in the Netherlands. She argues that risk communication is crucial for promoting awareness about the risks and benefits of vaccines, and provides insight into how migrants who fled civil war experience and inform themselves about the risks of vaccine preventable disease. As Barbara Rath reminds us, parents of under-immunized children are not always vaccine hesitant—some are simply uncertain about the vaccination status of their children and find it difficult to balance benefits and risks when it comes to making decisions about vaccination. Rath presents data from the Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative’s Vaccination App project, and shows how digital technologies can support parents in making more informed vaccination related decisions for their families. Finally, Michelle Driedger presents preliminary analysis from a new study examining the impact of source and narrative style on the vaccination decisions of Canadian parents. Driedger argues that both the source of information and the style of its presentation are important when it comes to understanding how vaccine hesitant parents can be moved from a position of hesitancy to compliance.