As Covid-19 vaccine rollouts get underway across the world, many are resting their hopes on vaccines as a pathway out of the pandemic. However, an increasing number of people believe vaccines are unsafe or unnecessary. Vaccine hesitancy is nothing new, indeed it is as old as vaccination itself. So, what can we learn from previous vaccine programmes, about what people’s concerns are and how they can be addressed?
In this episode of Between the Lines, IDS Director Melissa Leach joins Anthropologist and Founding Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project, Heidi Larson, to discuss her new book Stuck: How Vaccine Rumors Start and Why They Don’t Go Away.
They explore the social and emotional factors that contribute to vaccine hesitancy, the role of misinformation, and they look at considerations for more holistic public engagement.
Related content:
- Stuck: How Vaccine Rumours Start – and Why They Don’t Go Away
- Vaccine Anxieties: Global Science, Child Health and Society
- The Vaccine Confidence Project
- Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform
- Rapid Review: Vaccine Hesitancy and Building Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccination
- A call to arms: helping family, friends and communities navigate the COVID-19 infodemic
- She Hunts Viral Rumors About Real Viruses
- Heidi Larson interview: How to stop covid-19 vaccine hesitancy
- Comment on ‘Covid-19 vaccine deployment: Behaviour, ethics, misinformation and policy strategies’
- We need trust in our politics to overcome vaccine hesitancy
- ·Vaccine trials must engage with communities or risk failure, say social scientists
- Infographic: Going beyond misinformation to build vaccine confidence
With thanks to:
- Kelly Shephard introduces the podcast.
- Sarah King produces and edits the podcast series and created the artwork.
- Music credit: Crypt of Insomnia/One Day in Africa (instrumental version)/Getty Images
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