vaccine hesitancy

noun

plural vaccine hesitancies

: the reluctance or refusal to have oneself or one's children vaccinated

Vaccine hesitancy can contribute to the continued spread of disease because vaccinations are not being administered.

—Fred Steiner

Scientists are expressing concern over what they call "vaccine hesitancy" regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

—Katie Camero

WHO [World Health Organization] notes that measles cases have increased by 30 percent across the globe, and while not all cases are due to vaccine hesitancies, some countries that had nearly eliminated the disease have seen its return.

—Katie Gillespie

Examples of vaccine hesitancy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Given longstanding vaccine hesitancy among Black and Latino communities, making immunizations even harder to access puts this already-vulnerable population at higher risk. —Anika Nayak, STAT, 10 Nov. 2023

Increasingly, adults are susceptible, too Vaccination rates have been declining in upper-income countries due to vaccine hesitancy. —Helen Branswell, STAT, 16 Nov. 2023

The lack of data on the differences in reactions also potentially puts females at risk and may increase their vaccine hesitancy. —Korin Miller, Health, 6 Oct. 2023

McCarthy said challenges with vaccination efforts have long existed in Oklahoma, where vaccine hesitancy has increased as misinformation runs rampant. —Claretta Bellamy, NBC News, 12 Oct. 2023

His last article for the magazine was on vaccine hesitancy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. —Moises Velasquez-Manoff, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2023

But the new Delta variant, coupled with lingering vaccine hesitancy, is complicating the United States' recovery. —Nicholas Rice, Peoplemag, 2 Aug. 2023

The group also maintained that mistrust about such arrangements can contribute to vaccine hesitancy. —Ed Silverman, STAT, 17 Aug. 2023

Her wide-ranging subjects include opioids, tribes, reproductive rights, adolescent mental health and vaccine hesitancy. —Jan Hoffman, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

2002, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

vaccine hesitancy

noun

: the reluctance or refusal to have oneself or one's children vaccinated

Scientists are expressing concern over what they call "vaccine hesitancy" regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

—Katie Camero, The Miami Herald

Reasons for vaccine hesitancy fit into 3 categories: lack of confidence (in effectiveness, safety, the system, or policy makers), complacency (perceived low risk of acquiring VPDs [vaccine preventable diseases]), and lack of convenience …

—Shixin Shen and Vinita Dubey, Canadian Family Physician

WHO [World Health Organization] notes that measles cases have increased by 30 percent across the globe, and while not all cases are due to vaccine hesitancies, some countries that had nearly eliminated the disease have seen its return.

—Katie Gillespie, The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington)