The impact of segregation and social networks on vaccine skepticism

Vaccine hesitancy is a major security threat at both the international and national levels. A vaccination program is the most efficient method of preventing and mitigating pandemics and epidemics. The efficiency of vaccination programs is dependent on high vaccination rates.

Facing a pandemic, it is therefore of vital importance that policymakers manage to roll out vaccination programs that reach all sociodemographic groups in society.

Research from several countries shows that segregated groups, such as ethnic minorities, often are vaccine hesitant and underrepresented regarding vaccination.

However, we still know little about the social processes that lead to pockets of lower vaccine uptake among certain social groups. This 3-year project uses social network analysis to analyse the spread of vaccine scepticism in Sweden.

By combining unique data on Swedish vaccination coverage with register data on socioeconomic and residential factors, we will trace the spread of vaccination scepticism at the individual level and identify how pockets of low vaccine uptake emerge.

Our network approach offers an analytical bridge between the micro perspective of individual motivations and the macro-oriented explanations that have dominated previous research.

This research is of considerable policy relevance and will provide insights into how vaccination programs ought to be designed in order to reach groups that otherwise would be at risk of not taking part in the vaccination program.