Just as I said in the mask hesitancy episode (episode 5), we mustn’t call those that are hesitant of the vaccines “anti-vaxxers,” for the term is derogatory and in many cases, categorically untrue. Instead of blaming the Republicans, the Democrats, the conservatives, and the liberals, we are going to explore the actual, non-political and political reasons for which Americans, and all humans, are hesitant to get vaccinated against COVID-19. In this episode, the perfervid debate over the vaccine will be simplified into a matter of human psychology, not political disposition.

References:

Vaccine Hesitancy: History - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine_hesitancy#History

“Vaccine hesitancy: Definition, scope, and determinants” - ScienceDirect

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X15005009?via%3Dihub

“Psychological characteristics associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance in Ireland and the United Kingdom” (very much applicable to American COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy) - Nature (scientific journal)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20226-9

Study on Trust (or Distrust) in American Public Health Agencies - NPR

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/13/996331692/poll-finds-public-health-has-a-trust-problem

Adverse Events and Vaccine Safety - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html

mRNA Vaccine - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_vaccine

“Americans Remain Distrustful of Mass Media” - Gallup

https://news.gallup.com/poll/321116/americans-remain-distrustful-mass-media.aspx

Patient Distrust in Pharmaceutical Companies - National Institutes of Health

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7424561/

“C.D.C. Internal Report Calls Delta Variant as Contagious as Chickenpox” - The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/health/covid-cdc-delta-masks.html

R0 of Common Diseases - Vaccines Today

https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/what-is-r0/