Communication Interventions Can Reduce Vaccine Hesitancy

Communication interventions showed the potential to significantly reduce parental vaccine hesitancy, with in-person and interactive interventions being the most successful, according to a study published in Vaccine.¹

“One of the biggest challenges to maintaining high vaccine coverage is vaccine hesitancy, classically defined as ‘delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccine services,’” wrote authors of the study. “Vaccine hesitancy has also been defined more broadly to include parents who have concerns or negative attitudes about vaccination even though they get their children vaccinated.”

With children exhibiting their highest levels of vulnerability to disease before the age of 6, a variety of vaccine schedules are approved to be safe and effective for children to receive during the first few years of their lives. According to the Mayo Clinic, these vaccine schedules help protect children against 14 different childhood diseases, including HPV, influenza, measles, polio, and whooping cough.²

Based on the root causes of vaccine hesitancy, researchers looked to tailored patient communications for improving the phenomenon. | image credit: Prostock-studio / stock.adobe.com

READ MORE: Q&A: Persistent Vaccine Hesitancy Amid Increased Coadministration Rates

Despite recurring evidence of vaccines’ safety and efficacy, many parents are still significantly hesitant to give themselves, or their children, vaccines that protect against various infectious diseases. These sentiments have been amplified more recently because of events like the COVID-19 pandemic, where false information—specifically regarding the COVID-19 vaccine—circulated social media and news outlets.³

Amid increased instances since the start of the pandemic in 2020, vaccine hesitancy has made a significant impact on public health and childhood immunization. According to Unicef data, approximately 67 million children missed out on necessary vaccinations from 2019 to 2021.⁴

“There have been several kinds of interventions developed and implemented to raise public awareness of the dangers of vaccine-preventable diseases and to improve perceptions of vaccination; however, the evidence regarding the effectiveness of these interventions is limited, and more well-designed studies to evaluate such interventions are warranted,” they continued.¹ “This systematic review aims to update the previous review on this topic and determine which formats of communication interventions can be most effective in changing parents' perceptions of and behaviors toward vaccination, with a focus on differences between in-person versus not in-person and interactive versus non-interactive strategies.”

Based on the root causes of vaccine hesitancy, researchers looked to tailored patient communications for improving parental understanding of vaccines and recorrecting their sentiments of hesitancy. With previous studies showing success among communication interventions, they aimed to dig deeper into the best ways of combatting hesitancy.

Among caregivers and parents of young patients, researchers conducted online database searches for studies that explored the impact of communication interventions aiming to reduce vaccine hesitancy. In line with childhood vaccinations commonly administered to children under the age of 6, researchers excluded interventions that targeted adolescent or adult vaccine schedules.

After conducting their searches, researchers yielded a total of 33 studies to include in their final analysis. Thirteen studies explored the impact of interventions on vaccine behavior, 7 evaluated vaccine perceptions, and 13 investigated both perceptions and behavior. Furthermore, 5 of the 33 studies evaluated 2 communication interventions.

“Our systematic review identified 33 recent communication interventions to address parental vaccine hesitancy, of which 25 reported successful interventions,” wrote the authors.¹ “Thus, it appears communication interventions are often successful in reducing parental vaccine hesitancy. We also found that communication interventions may benefit from being in-person and interactive.”

With significant success among the interventions, researchers supported the introduction of communication methods for decreasing vaccine hesitancy among parents and child caretakers. One of the notable findings regarding parental views on childhood vaccines was that behaviors were found much more challenging to influence compared with perceptions.

According to the current study, which significantly aligns with a wealth of evidence released previously, communication interventions have risen as the most successful approach to improving vaccine hesitancy. While experts may be working to uncover other interventions for combatting this issue, researchers of the current study aim to further develop communication interventions and understand why they’ve been so impactful.

“In conclusion, communication interventions can reduce vaccine hesitancy, and in-person and interactive interventions may have greater impact,” they concluded.¹ “Further investigation is warranted to better understand what makes communication interventions the most impactful.”

Check out more of our content from National Immunization Awareness Month.

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References

1. Jwa S, Imanishi Y, Ascher MT, et al. Communication interventions to reduce parental vaccine hesitancy: a systematic review. Vaccine. 2025;61:127401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.127401

2. Sheehy J. Why childhood vaccinations matter. Mayo Clinic. August 7, 2023. Accessed August 21, 2025. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/the-facts-about-vaccinations

3. Cagnotta C, Lettera N, Cardillo M, et al. Parental vaccine hesitancy: recent evidences support the need to implement targeted communication strategies. J Infect Public Health. 2025;18(2):102648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2024.102648

4. New data indicates declining confidence in childhood vaccines of up to 44 percentage points in some countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. News Release. Unicef. April 20, 2023. Accessed August 21, 2025. https://www.unicef.org/rosa/press-releases/new-data-indicates-declining-confidence-childhood-vaccines-44-percentage-points-some