"I've spent two decades in public health and bioethics. I'm also a mom and a grandmother. Our family is vaccinated. Vaccination has more than two centuries of evidence behind it. Smallpox, polio, measles, diphtheria, tetanus: gone or drastically reduced. Modern monitoring systems continue to watch vaccine safety in real time. That's the public-health story most people know. Here's the psychology underneath-why smart, loving people still hesitate, and how we can help them move toward care."
"Understanding vaccine-resistant parents starts with the psychology behind a person saying "no" without the facts or in spite of facts. Sometimes doing nothing feels safer. The illness a parent can't see today feels like something that could happen way in the future-so why do anything about it now? Sometimes a parent learns of a rare side effect and obsesses over it while ignoring all the data points that show the vaccine is safe."
Public health requires clean water, safe food, breathable air, and effective vaccines to protect communities. Vaccination has eliminated or drastically reduced diseases such as smallpox, polio, measles, diphtheria, and tetanus. Modern monitoring systems continually track vaccine safety in real time and detect rare adverse events. Vaccine harms are uncommon, whereas the harms from preventable diseases are substantial. Psychological factors drive vaccine hesitation: invisible future illness feels less urgent, rare side effects can dominate attention, and perceived threats to autonomy provoke resistance. Social belonging and moral concerns about protecting the vulnerable also influence decisions. Trusted clinicians and transparent safety systems help counter misinformation and support uptake.
Read at Psychology Today
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