title: Understanding Vaccine Hesitancy in Canada: Results of a Consultation Study by the Canadian Immunization Research Network.
abstract: "Vaccine hesitancy" is a concept now frequently used in vaccination discourse. The increased popularity of this concept in both academic and public health circles is challenging previously held perspectives that individual vaccination attitudes and behaviours are a simple dichotomy of accept or reject. A consultation study was designed to assess the opinions of experts and health professionals concerning the definition, scope, and causes of vaccine hesitancy in Canada. We sent online surveys to two panels (1- vaccination experts and 2- front-line vaccine providers). Two questionnaires were completed by each panel, with data from the first questionnaire informing the development of questions for the second. Our participants defined vaccine hesitancy as an attitude (doubts, concerns) as well as a behaviour (refusing some / many vaccines, delaying vaccination). Our findings also indicate that both vaccine experts and front-line vaccine providers have the perception that vaccine rates have been declining and consider vaccine hesitancy an important issue to address in Canada. Diffusion of negative information online and lack of knowledge about vaccines were identified as the key causes of vaccine hesitancy by the participants. A common understanding of vaccine hesitancy among researchers, public health experts, policymakers and health care providers will better guide interventions that can more effectively address vaccine hesitancy within Canada.
authors.affiliation: Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada.|Maladies infectieuses, Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Québec, Québec, Canada.|Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Eve
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dubé
authors.affiliation: Maladies infectieuses, Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gagnon
authors.affiliation: Maladies infectieuses, Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Manale
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ouakki
authors.affiliation: Vaccine Evaluation Center, BC Children's Hospital, and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Julie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bettinger
authors.affiliation: Maladies infectieuses, Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Québec, Québec, Canada.|Département des sciences de la santé communautaire, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Maryse
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guay
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Halperin
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Kumanan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.affiliation: Département de médecine familiale et de médecine d'urgence, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada.|Santé des populations et pratiques optimales en santé, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Holly O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Witteman
authors.affiliation: Nursing Faculty, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.|Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Département d'Histoire, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Monnais
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Dat
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.affiliation: Département de pédiatrie, Service de néonatologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gagneur
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Juliet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guichon
authors.affiliation: Department of Production Animal Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.|Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Vineet
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Saini
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jane M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Heffernan
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: S Michelle
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Driedger
authors.affiliation: School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of History, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: MacDougall
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011634:Public Health; D014611:Vaccination / Q000523:psychology*; D000072758:Vaccination Refusal / Q000523:psychology*; D014612:Vaccines
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines