How Scientists View Vaccine Hesitancy

Eric W Welch; Timothy P Johnson; Tipeng Chen; Jinghuan Ma; Shaika Islam; Lesley Forst Michalegko; Mattia Caldarulo; Ashlee Frandell

doi:10.3390/vaccines11071208

How Scientists View Vaccine Hesitancy

Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Jul 6;11(7):1208. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11071208.

Authors

Eric W Welch^{1

2}, Timothy P Johnson³, Tipeng Chen¹, Jinghuan Ma¹, Shaika Islam¹, Lesley Forst Michalegko¹, Mattia Caldarulo¹, Ashlee Frandell¹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies, School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA.
² Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions, University of Montpellier, 34000 Montpellier, France.
³ Department of Public Policy, Management, and Analytics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA.

Abstract

This paper examines possible causes, consequences, and potential solutions for addressing vaccine hesitancy in the United States, focusing on the perspectives of academic scientists. By examining the experiences of scientists, who are arguably a critical community in US society, we gain deeper insights into how they understand the complexities of vaccine hesitancy and whether their insights and opinions converge with or diverge from the current literature. We present findings from a national survey of a representative sample of academic scientists from the fields of biology and public health regarding vaccine hesitancy and related topics. Empirical analysis using descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses covers multiple topics, including vaccine controversy, trust in science, causes of vaccine hesitancy, preferred policy and regulatory approaches, risk perceptions, and scientists' ethics and perceived communication roles. The results highlight a diversity of opinions within the scientific community regarding how to improve science-society communication in regard to vaccines, including the need to be transparent and candid to the public about the risk of vaccines and their research.

Keywords: decision making; health crisis; risk; science communication; science controversy; scientist opinions; scientist roles; vaccine hesitancy.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Arizona State University to establish a new survey in science communication tool, called SciOPS (https://www.sci-ops.org, accessed on 1 June 2023), to collect representative opinion data on current events from scientists in the United States and share that data with policy makers, journalists, and the general public in accessible ways.