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.