From Understanding to Action: Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy Across Sectors
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 88
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Vaccine hesitancy has emerged as one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time. Despite the global success of immunization programs in reducing morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases, reluctance or refusal to vaccinate continues to threaten progress across communities, regions, and populations. The complexity of vaccine hesitancy—its roots in misinformation, structural inequities, historical mistrust, political polarization, and personal belief systems—demands nuanced and interdisciplinary responses.
This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health will bring together a diverse array of scholarship that reflects the evolving landscape of vaccine confidence and hesitancy. This issue will also explore a range of topics, from novel approaches to measuring hesitancy and understanding cultural contexts to the role of healthcare providers, social media, and community-based interventions in influencing vaccine decisions.
Collectively, the aim of this Special Issue is to deepen our understanding of the drivers of vaccine hesitancy and to inform strategies that promote equity, empathy, and effectiveness in vaccine communication and policy. We also welcome articles that underscore the value of community engagement, trust-building, and inclusive public health infrastructure in restoring and sustaining confidence in immunization.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Insights into hesitancy surrounding long-standing routine vaccines;
- Individual-level factors associated with vaccine hesitancy, including sociodemographic characteristics, cultural and religious beliefs about vaccines, perception about efficacy, effectiveness, and risks, and access and affordability barriers;
- Strategies or interventions to increase adult immunizations;
- Evaluation of vaccine hesitancy among different populations, especially vulnerable groups;
- Innovations in addressing barriers to vaccine acceptance;
- Interventions focusing on effective communications to increase vaccine acceptance among different populations.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Lisa M. Gargano
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- vaccination
- vaccine communications
- vaccine hesitancy
- vaccine uptake: inequities in vaccine literacy
- vaccine confidence
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