Pregledni rad

https://doi.org/10.24869/psyd.2023.226

VACCINE HESITANCY – FROM PARENTAL DISTRUST TO COVID-19 CONSPIRACIES

Helena Jerković ; University Hospital Center Sestre milosrdnice, Vinogradska 29, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Mirna Šitum ; University Hospital Center Sestre milosrdnice, Vinogradska 29, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia ; School of Dental medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb ; Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Sažetak

Worldwide studies continuously confirm that vaccination is a safe and effective method of combating
various infectious diseases
and a key component of global public health programs. However, the vaccination status of a
population is often lower than needed to achieve collective immunity. A key reason that affects
lower vaccination coverage is vaccine hesitancy, identified as one of the ten greatest threats to
global public health. So far, vaccine hesitancy has been most investigated in the context of
parental refusal of chil- dren vaccination. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the
development of its vaccines put vaccine hesitancy further in the focus of investigators as well as
healthcare workers and policy makers. We have witnessed its immediate effects on public health and
mortality rates as well as even more extreme ways of vaccine refusal than previously documented.
The aim of this review article is to summarize relevant scientific understandings of vaccine
hesitancy, including its psychological determinants, insights from parental refusal of child
vaccination, medical distrust, and conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as
recommendations for public health services for combating vaccine hesitancy.

Ključne riječi

conspiracy beliefs; COVID-19; pandemic; vaccine hesitancy

Hrčak ID:

306946

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/306946

Datum izdavanja:

17.7.2023.

Posjeta: 199 *