VACCINE HESITANCY

About:

• Vaccine hesitancy means the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines.
  
  
• Vaccine hesitancy threatens to reverse progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases. Measles, for example, has seen a 30% increase in cases globally in 2018.
  
  
• Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective ways of avoiding disease – it currently prevents 2-3 million deaths a year, and a further 1.5 million could be avoided if global coverage of vaccinations improved.
  
  
• Some of the reasons why people choose not to vaccinate are: Complacency, inconvenience in accessing vaccines, and lack of confidence are key reasons underlying hesitancy.