Paper short abstract:

By conducting ethnographic interviews in the least vaccinated village in Romania, we investigated vaccine hesitancy in a traditional community. We found that COVID-19 vaccination decisions are made at community level, a strong emphasis being put on the informal norm of refusing vaccination.

Paper long abstract:

COVID-19 vaccination efforts are met with hesitancy and resistance in many countries around the world. The social construction of health-related risks, reflexivity, making informed decisions, and being highly skeptical of expertise are all explanations for the vaccine hesitancy phenomenon in post-modern societies. But how are vaccination decisions made in small traditional communities? In this study, we investigated the hesitancy of COVID-19 vaccination in a traditional community in Romania. We conducted ethnographic interviews with locals in Băbulești, a small village with the lowest vaccination rate in the country – 0.6%. People in Bărbulești decided to refuse COVID-19 vaccination based on the informal norm in their community. This norm emerged at the community level, as a result of collective discussions which often take place in religious settings, where people debate religious interpretations of the Bible that associate the vaccine with the Mark of the Beast. The informal norm is also strengthened by the influence of local authority figures who are not vaccinated, such as the mayor and the pastor. A secondary motive for vaccine refusal is the fear of adverse reactions disseminated in TV shows. Information campaigns on COVID-19 vaccination should include tailored messages to address vaccine hesitancy in traditional communities, where this social phenomenon is socially constructed in distinct ways compared with (post)modern areas.

Paper short abstract:

We discuss a work-in-progress typology of Christian Orthodox and biomedical justifications regarding Covid-19 vaccines in online Romanian media. We also address methodological challenges in sampling, studying readers’ comments, and delineating religious from scientific arguments.

Paper long abstract:

Anthropological studies of conflicting ontologies indicate that realities are based on “incorrigible propositions” (Mehan and Wood, 1975). These are premises that cannot be empirically invalidated, because they define the possibility of truth. At the same time, coherent realities are reproduced through ceaseless interaction and are fragile. How can we study the relationship between Christian Orthodox theology and secular biology and epidemiology, to best capture both the inner coherence of incorrigible propositions, and the permeability - or flexibility- of each ontology?

We examine a sample of online articles and readers’ comments that invoke Christian Orthodox and biomedical justifications on the topic of Covid-19 vaccination, in Romanian media, during 2021. We include articles that support vaccination and articles that advance hesitant or anti-vaxx positions. We attempt to sketch a typology of ontological combinations. What are the contrasts that highlight the immiscibility of ontologies, and what are the articulations that make them work together? How are temporalities and emotions manipulated, to integrate or oppose the two ontologies (Hochschild 1979, Flaherty 2003)?

In this paper, we present a work-in-progress typology, and we discuss several methodological challenges. What are the implications of including or excluding a publication from the sample? How can we integrate the study of articles with readers’ comments, keeping in view their communication situations? How can we identify religious arguments and scientific arguments? What is the role of the current scientific consensus in delineating arguments “from science” and arguments “from religion”, in a period of high scientific uncertainty?

Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the pro-vaccination sociality and histories of older Western Australians in the COVID-19 pandemic. It documents how they articulate ‘provax’ identities socially, frequently referencing their childhood experiences of epidemics and vaccinations for now-eradicated diseases.

Paper long abstract:

Anthropological and other social scientific scholarship on vaccination has often explored how refusal and delay is fostered through people’s social networks. Research in some schools, for instance, reveals how social and institutional relations produce vaccine refusing or delaying parents, and un- or under-vaccinated children. While it is important to examine when, how, and why vaccine refusal or delay occurs, it is likewise critical to understand the development of pro-vaccination orientations by researching those who want to be vaccinated. As COVID-19 vaccines have become available globally (albeit highly unevenly), vaccine-favourable views have been increasingly on public display.

In this paper, I explore pro-vaccination sociality and personal histories during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. I draw on interviews with older Western Australians, documenting how they articulate ‘provax’ identities in opposition to ‘antivax’ others. These ‘provax’ identities were clearly anchored in and solidified through social relations, as interviewees spoke extensively of ‘likeminded’ and ‘reasonable’ friends and families, who often actively facilitated or encouraged each other’s vaccinations. Less often, they complained of ‘ill-informed’ and ‘misguided’ relations and acquaintances. As older people, interviewees also frequently referenced their childhood experiences of epidemics and vaccinations for now-eradicated diseases. In doing so, they provided a rationale for their pro-vaccination views. In light of the current and (likely) future pandemics, I argue that it is important to better understand the influential histories, identities, and sociality of self-proclaimed ‘provaxxers’.

Paper short abstract:

This paper explores Brazilian groups about non-vaccination in social media: how they share information, their understanding of science and the logic behind their discourses. The challenges of an ethnographic approach and ethical issues in the digital spaces are also concerns in this research.

Paper long abstract:

Universal vaccination is accepted for control of infectious diseases and is one of the most globalized health safety policies. Even though it is mandatory in Brazil, there has been a decline in vaccination coverage in recent years. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, debates about the efficacy and safety of vaccines, in addition to the mandatory nature of vaccination, are present in the media and social networks. The theme proposed here is the object of my doctoral research, which will seek to analyze the worldview and logics present in the discourses and knowledge shared about non-vaccination in Brazilian social media (specifically a Facebook group and another one on Telegram) in order to verify how vaccine information is disseminated and which are the determinants of vaccine hesitation, the impact of social media on these ways of thinking and the role and the understanding of science for these groups. Among the main challenges of the research, there are: ethical issues regarding information shared in the group; participant observation in digital spaces; and following the flow of information and users’ participation. People sympathetic to the anti-vaccination cause are not visible in health facilities, but they find in social media the place where they can express themselves with their peers and share their worldview. Vaccination must be understood as a scientific, political and social phenomenon, therefore it is essential to comprehend these groups to be able to improve health policies.