RESEARCH BRIEF | Misled at the Crossroads: Vulnerable Life Phases and the Spread of Health Misinformation

This brief addresses one of today’s most pressing public-health challenges – vaccine hesitancy – and brings fresh insights from research by Kristina Seimann, Andra Siibak and Marit Napp, published in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, which explores how individuals understand and respond to vaccines.

In Estonia, routine childhood-vaccination rates have plunged to around 70%, far below the World Health Organization’s recommended 95%. This alarming trend highlights an urgent need for long-term strategies that build health literacy and renew trust between the medical community and society.

The research reveals key dimensions of this challenge:

• Vaccine hesitancy is not a binary issue – it spans from outright rejection to cautious uncertainty.
• Many hesitant individuals are highly engaged in their decision-making, valuing personal agency and self-defined expertise.
• A lack of trust in institutions – including government, pharmaceutical industry and public-health authorities – plays a central role.
• Alternative-health beliefs and preference for natural or holistic remedies correlate strongly with vaccine scepticism.

These patterns work because they meet fundamental human-needs: people seek control over their health and choices, they filter information themselves rather than accept top-down messaging, and they often feel alienated by polarising “pro/anti” framing.

Read the full Research Brief here: