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’.