Measuring Vaccine Confidence: Introducing a Global Vaccine Confidence Index

Conclusion The first conclusion to draw from these findings is that medium-to-high confidence in vaccines and immunisation programmes is the norm, and vaccine hesitancy and refusals are relatively rare. Nonetheless, even small groups of hesitant or refusing individuals can severely undermine an immunisation programme in certain circumstances, such as when political actors in Nigeria and Pakistan mobilised local boycotts that have had both national and international repercussions. This begs the question, “How much confidence is enough?” Second, the finding that higher confidence in immunisation programmes correlates with lower vaccine hesitancy and lends support to the premise that confidence in vaccination is connected to confidence in the broader system with which it is associated. Thirdly, confidence issues constituted the most prevalent reasons for vaccine hesitancy and refusals (except in Georgia). Although the survey questions were designed by those within The Vaccine Confidence Project, and those coding free-form “other” responses were not blinded, the questions allowed ample opportunity for respondents to give answers other than those related to confidence, and the classification of answers within the confidence/ convenience/ complacency framework was agreed by independent coders. Returning to the question of “how much confidence is enough?” there is no clear watershed confidence level that is consistent across every country – in India and the UK,...
Source: PLOS Currents Outbreaks - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Source Type: research