Suboptimal vaccine uptake and vaccine hesitancy in the United States: current challenges and future directions

Population-level outreach and effective communication about vaccines is a central component to addressing vaccine hesitancy and restoring and maintaining trust in the vaccination system. With new ways of understanding vaccine hesitancy rooted in the psychology of decision-making, there is a need for research into outreach, message development, and implementation, within the information and social media environment that allows even faster dissemination of mis- and dis-information. Balancing the rigor of communications and implementation research with the need for timely communications is a pressing challenge to be faced by public health and medical professionals when addressing vaccine hesitancy.