‘I am still unsure…’ – Spontaneous expressions of vaccine indecision on Mumsnet

Abstract

Vaccination programmes in 90 % of countries in the world have been affected by ‘vaccine hesitancy’. Childhood vaccinations are particularly important. Internationally, these vaccination rates have been declining, resulting in the resurfacing of communicable diseases previously considered eliminated. In this context, our paper examines parents’ unelicited expressions of vaccine indecision – dilemmas, hesitations and concerns related to vaccinating at the point of decision-making.

Our corpus-assisted discourse study combines discourse analysis and the qualitative and quantitative tools of corpus linguistics (text dispersion keywords and concordancing) to compare 422 Original Posts from the forum of the UK-based parenting website Mumsnet that outline vaccine indecision to vaccination discussions that do not involve decision-making difficulties. We examine what characterises authentic vaccine indecision in the localised context of Mumsnet users. Specifically, we analyse which vaccines Mumsnet users are undecided about; what concerns are linked to indecision specifically; and how such concerns are raised in a generally pro-vaccination online space. Our method combines the advantages of analysing large datasets with those of nuanced and localised qualitative analysis.

The vaccine that most consistently concerns parents is MMR. Concerns about other vaccines fluctuate with disease outbreaks and the introduction of new vaccines. The concerns linked to indecision specifically are mostly individual and vaccine-specific, and include the mode and timing of vaccinations, particular personal and family circumstances and a rather unspecific notion of side effects. Mumsnet users invite details about others' personal experiences to fill a need left by widely available general vaccine information. The implication is that health services may need to redirect resources from mass population level campaigns to more personalised and tailored approaches for parents who are hesitant about specific vaccines at particular points in time.