Parents’ malevolent personification of mass vaccination solidifies vaccine hesitancy

Parental hesitancy to vaccinate their children derails the success of mass vaccination campaigns. We examined the effect of parents’ personification of the vaccinating agency on vaccine hesitancy (i.e. negative or positive mind change) in 555 parents in a mass wild poliovirus vaccination campaign. Parents were assessed before and after the campaign on attitudes toward vaccination and the vaccinating agency (“The Israeli MoH is caring” vs “hysteric”). Positive mind change was predicted by a gender and malevolent personification. A negative mind change was predicted by parental anxiety. We conclude that parental hesitancy is influenced by parents’ attachment to the vaccinating agency.