Vaccine acceptance, hesitancy and refusal in Canada: Challenges and potential approaches

Abstract

"Vaccine hesitancy" is a concept used frequently in vaccination discourse and is challenging previously held perspective that individual vaccination attitudes and behaviours are a simple dichotomy of accept or reject. Given the importance of achieving high vaccine coverage in Canada to avoid vaccine preventable diseases and their consequences, vaccine hesitancy is an important issue that needs to be addressed. This article describes the scope and causes of vaccine hesitancy in Canada and proposes potential approaches to address it.