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Vaccine mandates and public trust do not have to be antagonistic

Nature Human Behaviour volume 7, pages 1605–1606 (2023)Cite this article

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COVID-19 vaccine mandates increased vaccine coverage in most settings, but the protective effect was not homogenous across populations (for example, children)3. Public opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates was reported globally. This opposition has resulted in diminished uptake of standard childhood vaccines, as well as low public interest in COVID-19 boosters — even when access and availability are secure. Paediatric COVID-19 vaccination efforts were also challenged by a new wave of vaccine-hesitant parents, who constituted almost one-third of the parents in USA4. COVID-19 vaccine mandates are regarded by some as more harmful than beneficial, owing to the potential for long-term public discontent5.

The optimal conditions for introducing vaccine mandates are difficult to define. It is evident, however, that not enough effort was made to explain the rationale for vaccination mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic and public consultations on how mandates could be optimized were not undertaken5. Instead, researchers and policymakers equated high vaccine uptake with proof that vaccine mandates are beneficial and overlooked how mandates can undermine public trust in the long term2,5.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    Maya J. Goldenberg

  2. Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Bipin Adhikari, Lorenz von Seidlein & Phaik Yeong Cheah

  3. Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Bipin Adhikari, Lorenz von Seidlein & Phaik Yeong Cheah

  4. Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Heidi J. Larson

  5. Department of Health Metrics Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Heidi J. Larson

Authors
  1. Maya J. Goldenberg
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  2. Bipin Adhikari
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  3. Lorenz von Seidlein
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  4. Phaik Yeong Cheah
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  5. Heidi J. Larson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bipin Adhikari.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Human Behaviour thanks Rachel Gur-Arie and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Goldenberg, M.J., Adhikari, B., von Seidlein, L. et al. Vaccine mandates and public trust do not have to be antagonistic. Nat Hum Behav 7, 1605–1606 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01720-8

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