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. 2020 Feb 7;8(1):76.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines8010076.

The Vaccine Uptake Continuum: Applying Social Science Theory to Shift Vaccine Hesitancy

Rachael Piltch-Loeb  1   2 , Ralph DiClemente  2
Affiliations

The Vaccine Uptake Continuum: Applying Social Science Theory to Shift Vaccine Hesitancy

Rachael Piltch-Loeb et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

Vaccines are the optimal public health strategy to prevent disease, but the growing anti-vaccine movement has focused renewed attention on the need to persuade people to increase vaccine uptake. This commentary draws on social and behavioral science theory and proposes a vaccine uptake continuum comprised of five factors: (1) awareness of the health threat; (2) availability of the vaccine; (3) accessibility of the vaccine; (4) affordability of the vaccine; and (5) acceptability of the vaccine to effectively approach this rising challenge.

Keywords: measles; risk communication; theory; vaccine hesitancy; vaccine uptake.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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