Dear Colleagues,

The availability of vaccines for infectious and intimidating preventable diseases such as COVID-19, polio, chickenpox (varicella), diphtheria, flu (influenza), hepatitis A, and hepatitis B has made health authorities capable of confronting these global public health challenges efficaciously. However, a large proportion of the population, particularly those living in the Global South and even in developed nations, face challenges in improving vaccination uptake.

The efficacious control of these diseases depends mainly on the public’s acceptance and uptake of these vaccines. Accordingly, determinative research improving our understanding of the adversities and causes of positive vaccination intentions is critical to ensure the success of future and ongoing public health challenges by providing practical evidence-based health awareness. Therefore, to achieve a more all-encompassing understanding of the psychological, behavioral, and demographic factors including, but not limited to, the media and digital media ecology of ongoing public health challenges related to infectious and intimidating preventable diseases such as COVID-19, polio, chickenpox (varicella), diphtheria, flu (influenza), hepatitis A, and hepatitis B, this Special Issue will focus on the critical issues, challenges, successes, and new ways of thinking about vaccine uptake to combat these infectious and preventable challenges. 

1. It is not sufficient to develop an effective awareness regarding infectious and preventable diseases. Past research identified several factors that influence vaccine hesitancy among a large proportion of the populace. These adverse factors associated to vaccine hesitancy have deepened with the emergence of digital media and fake news ecosystems, and fuel challenges for public health authorities and international organizations such as WHO in advancing the fight against these diseases. Globally, the wave of misinformation, disinformation, infodemics, and fake-analysis-based user-generated content is overwhelming the efforts made by these health authorities to counter these public health challenges. Coupled with the existing psychological and behavioral barriers, these recent communicative factors have increased the intimidation of vaccine uptake intention.
2. We are pleased to invite you to contribute an original research article, case study, research report, observation, or scoping review highlighting (i) the prevalence of acceptance, hesitancy, or refusal to accept vaccines for infectious and preventable diseases; (ii) associated attributes or factors driving hesitancy/refusal ranging from the personal and relational to the community and cultural; (iii) experimental work testing intention/behavior change concerning the uptake of vaccination; and (iv) the influence of media on the decision-making process—from literacy to social media. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies are invited. Manuscripts will be subject to standard journal peer-review practices, and those accepted for publication will appear in the Special Issue.
3. This Special Issue aims to accept contributions describing how effective vaccine campaigns against infectious and preventable diseases are not enough on their own.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Behavioral factors associated with vaccine uptake;
• Psychological factors associated with vaccine uptake ;
• Influence of misinformation, disinformation, infodemics and fake news;
• Influence of communication campaigns encompassing both traditional and social media on vaccine acceptance.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Muhammad Yousaf
Dr. Syed Raza
Dr. Aqdas Malik
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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