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

In a study on vaccine hesitancy published in 2020, my colleagues and I found that controversial headlines in news reports that go viral before national vaccination campaigns can discourage parents from getting their children vaccinated. —Angshuman K. Kashyap, The Conversation, 16 May 2025

And studying changes in these attitudes may be harder in the future: The National Institutes of Health has terminated millions of dollars worth of grants for research to study vaccine hesitancy and how to improve immunization levels. —Maria Godoy, NPR, 30 Mar. 2025

Last week, news broke that the NIH was canceling or limiting grant funding for research related to vaccine hesitancy—which has increased significantly in recent years, leading to declining vaccination rates and the loss of herd immunity in many communities. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 17 Mar. 2025

The National Institutes of Health halted funding for researchers who study vaccine hesitancy and hoped to find ways to overcome it. —Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025

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)