A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF VACCINE HESITANCY AND ANTI-VACCINATION CONCEPTS: WHAT HAS THE COVID-19 PANDEMICCHANGED?

Abstract

Historically, contagious and epidemic diseases, haveplayed an important role in the development of public healthpolicy, causing the deaths of millions of people, particularlyduring the plague, cholera, and influenza epidemics in the MiddleAges.The eradication of smallpox virus by vaccination and thesignificant decrease of child mortality rates following the use ofpolio, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccines are two examples ofthe positive impacts of vaccines on public health. The StrategicAdvisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), the maincounseling unit about vaccines and immunization of the WorldHealth Organization, endorses vaccination as one of the greatestachievements in 2 0th century public health. Despite the inarguablesuccess of vaccination worldwide, anti-vaccination movementsappeared historically almost simultaneously with the emergenceof vaccines themselves. Most recently, during the Covid-19pandemic, the first such pandemic of the 21St century, the conceptof vaccine hesitancy emerged once again, not only among thegeneral population but also in healthcare workers.The availability of the Internet and particularly social mediakindled in some, a lack of trust, along with the huge volume of these echo chambers and dividing people ideologically as toCovid vaccination, despite the many lives obviously spared andthe wide availability of this simple, cost-effective preventativemeasure.The aim of this article is to examine the brief history of theanti-vaccination movement and the scope of the concepts ofvaccination and vaccine hesitancy; and to discuss the impacts ofinfodemics and the lack of trust in these two concepts during theCovid-19 pandemic