Why Do People Oppose Vaccinations?

Photo via

Vaccines have been celebrated for years as public health's most cost-effective intervention. With little investment, vaccines can be administered to protect against a wide variety of communicable disease, many of which are still raging problems, globally. The more people get vaccinated, the higher the herd immunity, and the safer the community is. To health officials, vaccines are a no-brainer. Yet there is a growing trend of concerned parents fighting back. What's the deal?


Religion is the most common exemption, aside from a medical exemption provided by a doctor, allowed to refuse vaccinations. Some religions find fault in the fetal tissue or animal proteins that are a part of some vaccines. Other people, in accordance with their religion, have beliefs along the lines of not interfering with the bodies God created, that God is the only protection they need, etc.

Another common reason people oppose vaccinations is their concerns about the safety of vaccines. In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a study stating that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism in a dozen children. Though that study has been proven fraudulent, the myth still persists. There are also concerns about vaccines additives, like thimerosol, which contains a form of mercury, and helps to preserve vaccines in places where refrigeration isn't a practical option. The US removed thimerosol from its vaccines amid public concerns that it too caused autism—studies that were performed revealed these concerns were also unfounded.


There are, of course, risks inherent in any medical procedure. Most side effects from vaccinations are mild swelling and/or pain at the injection site, maybe a small fever, for up to a day afterward. Other side effects could include allergic-type reactions, which could, in some cases, be very serious. These risks are so miniscule when compared to the benefits that they hardly matter. But for some parents, any risk to their child is too much. Especially when the vaccines in question don't seem necessary. Vaccine-preventable diseases have become incredibly rare in the US, so it's easy to imagine they have been eradicated. Many parents object to being forced to immunize their children, given the high risks and low benefits that these parents perceive.

What about in other parts of the world, where these diseases have not been eradicated? Though there is not as much philosophical push back, there are some cases in which vaccines have not been trusted. In Cameroon in 1990, in the midst of a robust vaccination effort, rumors and fears that the vaccines were causing sterilization caused many people to deny treatment. In Nigeria, there are rumors that the polio vaccine causes AIDS and sterility. 

In an effort to understand the anti-vaccine movement, we have done our best to present the typical reasons people refuse vaccinations objectively and without judgement. For more perspectives, check out these links.

Cultural Perspectives on Vaccination

Frontline's "War on Vaccines" Program

This American Life's episode about a measles outbreak


by Global Ruckus